THE RECENT ATTACKS DID NOT STOP THE PARTYING IN MYSTIC FALLS. The Founder's Party was upon them, and Eleanor felt obligated to go considering she attended the very first one back in 1864. She was kind of nervous because her name was going to be on the first guest list, which was bound to raise some eyebrows, especially since Damon and Stefan's names were on there as well. She had liked that her name was on it back then because she enjoyed the idea of leaving little pieces of evidence wherever she went.

She was wearing a light pink dress with small flowers placed randomly across the fabric, and she waited outside the Lockwood for Bonnie, who was supposed to be her date for the evening since neither of them could find actual dates. Caroline was going with Damon — which Eleanor was less than thrilled about — and Elena with Stefan. Eleanor smiled when she heard the Bennett girl's voice. "Wow, you look hot!"

"Thanks," she responded, turning around to see her walking across the lawn toward her. She nodded at her politely, "You look amazing too."

Bonnie grinned thankfully before gesturing up the stairs where everyone was entering the mansion. The place was huge, not too much bigger than it was in 1864. "Shall we?"

"We shall," Eleanor confirmed, and the two joined the line and slowly moved forward every couple of seconds until they reached the top of the stairs and the doorway.

The Chetwood girl felt a wave of relief wash over her when she saw that Mrs. Lockwood was standing in the front, greeting everyone. It was going to be a problem if she wasn't able to come inside because she hadn't been invited in. Bonnie greeted the woman and gestured to the girl beside her. "Hi, Mrs. Lockwood. This is Eleanor."

"Yes, one of our newcomers. Come on in, girls," Mrs. Lockwood told them, and the female vampire stepped into the threshold of the home. She really needed to be more careful about who she invited inside. As soon as they joined the party, Bonnie began scanning the room.

"So, see any cute guys with or without dates?" she asked, glancing over at Eleanor, whose face kind of fell. She panicked slightly and was quick to say, "Oh, not that you aren't great company."

Eleanor shook her head. She did not mind the fact that Bonnie wanted to find a guy to talk to. She had wanted to wander around and look at the artifacts anyway. She awkwardly explained, "It's not that. It's just that I'm more interested in their dates."

"Oh!" the Bennett girl exclaimed, her eyes shooting open wide.

The brunette winced. She really thought that she should've gotten better at telling people by that point. "I've said something like that a million times, and it gets more and more awkward every time."

"No! No, it's not awkward," Bonnie assured her, shaking her head frantically. Eleanor laughed at her panic, letting her know that she didn't do anything wrong. "I'm sorry. I'm being weird. I should just stop talking now."

The vampire waved her off. She was honestly just glad that she did not think it was a bad thing. No matter how indestructible and confident you felt, it still hurt when people did not accept you for something like that. "Don't worry. You're fine. It's not a secret or anything. And I'm more than happy to be your wingwoman for the night."

"Sounds great."

《❂》

ELEANOR WAS SIPPING CHAMPAGNE AND WALKING AROUND. She had been examining the items that people had brought in from the founders. She spotted some fakes, but for the most part, the conservation was impressive. She stopped in front of the guest list and glanced around to make sure that no one was watching her before she reached out and placed her finger on the frame, right where her name was scrawled in her handwriting.

"Ellie!" a voice called, causing her to jump and spin around. Caroline was walking over to her with a smile. Eleanor stepped in front of the list, blocking it from her view and scanning her brain for an explanation in case she asked about it. She seemed clueless, though. "How's your night going?"

"Pretty good. Bonnie found a guy, so I'm just wandering right now," she responded. Caroline looked at her with a pitiful expression, but the truth was that she really did not mind being alone at all. She enjoyed it most of the time.

The blonde girl took some steps toward her and offered, "Well, my date is nowhere to be seen as well, so wanna dance?"

"What?" Eleanor asked, trying to make sure that she heard the girl correctly.

"Come on, let's dance! It'll be fun," the Forbes girl assured her, and she grabbed Eleanor's hand before she got an answer and pulled her into the other room and onto the dance floor. A slow song that she did not recognize was playing. Caroline grinned and put her arms around Eleanor's neck while the brunette placed her hands on the girl's waist. "So, Bonnie told me something interesting about you."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry I didn't say anything before," she responded. Some people got weird when she did not tell them immediately, most assuming that they just wanted to peek in on them while they were changing or something.

"No, it's fine. This is so cool," Caroline said excitedly, the smile never leaving her face. Eleanor breathed out a sigh of relief. Why did she care so much if Caroline liked her? She was just a girl that she had met a couple weeks ago. "I can point you towards the girls that I think are secretly gay, and—"

Even though she was grateful for the efforts, Eleanor stopped her, "Caroline, thank you, but I'm okay. I've survived this long on my own."

"Right. Sorry," the blonde said, looking down at her feet. The girl in front of her just smiled because she looked really cute when she was shy.

The smile quickly turned upside down when Eleanor noticed something on Caroline's back. It looked like a wound of some sort, and it looked deep, whatever it was. The girl's scarf had been covering it, but it had shifted to the side a little bit. "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh, nothing," the Forbes girl responded, moving her scarf back into place.

Eleanor's eyebrows furrowed, and she reached to try and move the fabric back out of the way so that she could examine the wound. She knew that it was because of Damon, and she needed to know what he was doing to her. "Caroline, what is that?"

"Nothing! Stop!" Caroline ordered, getting upset.

The vampire sighed because she really did not want to do what she was about to. She felt like she was betraying her for doing it. She looked the girl right in the eye and said, "Take off your scarf, and let me see." Caroline seemed entranced for a moment before she complied.

There was a huge bite mark on her back, and the sight of it made Eleanor's blood boil. She did not know what she thought Damon was doing, but seeing it made her a hundred times angrier. The least he could do was heal her after he hurt her.

"Damon is going to kill me if he knows you saw," Caroline muttered, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. Whatever was happening with Damon, it wasn't love. It was abuse. She was terrified of him, and he was using her.

Eleanor's eyes softened, and she tilted her head to the side. "Caroline—"

"I have to go," she exclaimed, and she turned around and ran out of the room quickly, leaving the brunette standing alone on the dance floor. She just watched her go before pivoting on her heel and heading out the other door. She made her way to the back yard where she groaned loudly and fought the urge to kick a three.

She was getting ready to pace, wondering why the hell she was so mad at herself for upsetting Caroline, when she spotted Tyler freaking Lockwood sitting on the grass and leaning against a fountain with an entire bottle of champagne in his hand. She just sighed before walking over to him slowly. He asked, "What happened to your date?"

"She's talking to some guy," she answered. Bonnie had found someone within a half hour of them getting there. Eleanor moved to sit down next to him, needing a break for a second and not caring if she got her dress dirty. "What about you?"

He informed her, "I was a dick."

"At least you're self-aware," she muttered, and he could not even be offended by that. He just offered the bottle of champagne, which she accepted and took a very long swig of. Eleanor had been a dick herself quite a few times, if she was being honest.

"What happened with Caroline? I saw her run away from you," he told her, and she almost audibly groaned because she did not really want to talk about it. He asked, "Did you brush a boob, or something?" She had been prepared to change the subject and brush him off, but his question caught her so off guard that all she could do was sit and stare at him in shock. He assured her, "It's okay if you did. There's no judgment here."

She just shook her head in disbelief, wondering what the hell went on in his mind for him to think that that was a reasonable question to ask her. She just breathed out, "You are such an ass."

"Well this ass was the first person you came out to," he reminded her.

She furrowed her eyebrows. She really did not remember that happening. His great great grandfather was not even alive when she first told someone that she liked girls. "That is so not what happened."

"I think it was. I was the first person in town to know that you liked girls. I must be pretty special," he explained, and all she could do was shake her head and stand up. She could not deal with him anymore, and she had to walk away before she tore his head off. "See you later, Chetwood!"

She flipped him off over her shoulder and heard him laugh. She was on her way to the front of the house, figuring it was time for her to leave, when she saw Stefan standing over two unconscious people that were lying in the grass. Her eyes widened when she realized that it was Damon and Caroline. "What the hell did you do?"

"I was trying to take down Damon, and I knew he would notice if I spiked his drink. So, I spiked hers," he explained, and it had clearly been a good idea. Damon tried to feed on the blonde girl, and the vervain knocked him out.

But Eleanor froze when she processed everything that he said fully. "So, she's had vervain in her all night?"

"Yeah, ever since she got her drink at the beginning.," he confirmed with a nod. Eleanor just stared down at the blonde girl, realizing that she had been on vervain when she tried to compel her. That meant that she defied Damon — and possibly his compulsion if that was even possible — by her own choice. Stefan raised his eyebrows. "You want me to take her home?"

"No, I got it."