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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔

-ˋˏ 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 ˎˊ-

˚ 　 ✫ 　　　 ˚ . 　　　 ⋆

. · 　　 +

✧

╰┈˚ · ° .   THE STARS. I don't think there has ever been a time where I could look up at the sky and not be fascinated— no, more than that— attracted like a magnet to the celestial bodies of the night sky.

It had been years ago when I stumbled first in the cave. I was walking, like many times before, in the forest near my house. The trees thickened further in, and almost out of nowhere, a new path was created. It took me somewhere where I could be almost certain that no human before had ever stepped a foot in there. The leaves were brighter, the moss on the roots of the trees was greener, and even the flowers— types of which I had yet to still discover the name of— bloomed all year around. And nestled between two trees that almost formed an arch with their branches, covered in an ever present fog, there was the entrance of a cave.

It was larger than I thought it would be, a little path led slightly downwards with a wall made from the rocks, smooth in some places and jagged in others. The trail then gave out to a circle, dirt and grass mixing on the floor carpeted with mushrooms and flowers on the sides. Ivys crawled on the walls on the left, leading to a further down space. Water cascaded from the wall falling into the pond below. And the best part, the one that made this cave feel like home, were the two holes on the ceiling. One in the center of the principal space and the other, my favorite, just above the water. It was naturally carved into the rock and showed the sky above. The sun never seemed to reach their rays down it, but at night, the space lightened with the moon and water twinkled with the gleam of the stars almost glowing with their shine.

I had tried to make the space as comfortable as possible since that day, I had spent more time in it then my own room.

The center space was occupied by blankets and pillows alike creating the illusion of a bed, with next to it, books piled up in towers. Candles were scattered everywhere to give the space a bit more light, and a small chest near the wall contained some warmer clothes for the night and towels from when I would let myself enjoy the pond. And of course, food.

I had created my space, one that was known only to me.

The book that I was reading while laying on the blanket-made bed had taken my focus for hours, only the rising sun had succeeded to make me close it off.

I had been awake all night reading. Again.

When I closed the book with the bookmark safely placed in, I suppressed a winch. Hopefully I could get back before anyone was awake.

I did not have that much luck though, because when I opened the front door, I caught the sight of Jenna glaring at the tv with the news, cursing at the journalist.

"Scum ball. Scum bucket."

"Who are you talking to?" Elena asked, walking in the kitchen as confused as I was.

"Him." Our aunt replied.

"The news guy?" I questioned.

"Also known as Logan 'Scum' Fell."

"Oh. That is why you were saying many scum insults." I chuckled lightheartedly, scrunching my nose as my lips formed a grin.

"Did your mom tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Aunt Jenna asked, raising an eyebrow in question towards us sisters, the answer already in her question.

"Oh, no way. You and him?" Elena laughed, glancing at the tv, still with Logan Fell on it as the news continued. "He is cute."

I chuckled as I brought my bowl with cereal at the table, sitting next to Elena. "Not really my type, but yeah, he is cute."

"And who is your type, Zyran?" Elena teased. I rolled my eyes but my lips still curled upwards. I liked having this type of lighthearted moment with her.

Not agreeing with us and not hearing Lena's comment, Jenna shook her head. "He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him." She scoffed, all together turning off the tv focusing on Elena– who was polishing a watch? "What are you doing with that?"

"Why are you polishing an old watch?" I asked out loud, brows furrowed in confusion as I noticed what she was doing.

"I got it from the safe deposit box. Mom told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the Founder's Council for their heritage display." Elena explained, a heavier tone in her words as she spoke of our mom.

I groaned, scrunching all my face up. "The Founder Party is tonight." I muttered with distaste.

Lena nodded her head. "Are you coming?" I could see that somehow, she wanted me there.

I sighed out a breath, the no on the tip of my tongue, "Yes. I'll be there."

Elena's face softened into a gentle smile, before she was soon once again taken by the task of polishing the old watch.

"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" Aunt Jenna asked with a smile as she took from the box the ring to see it closer.

"Originally, it was Great-Great-Grandma Mary's wedding ring."

Jeremy walked in, taking the pocket watch from the box. "How much do you think this stuff is worth, like, on eBay?"

Taking it back from our little brother's hand, Elena replied sternly. "You're not gonna find out."

"That stuff is Mom and Dad's. You can't give it away." The boy said as he walked to the fridge, an edge into his tone.

"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy." Elena said, loosing a breath. The doorbell rang, and a smile was quick to form on the girl's lips as she hurried to answer. Turning around, I recognized Stefan as my sister dragged him upstairs.

"Are they really going to do the Devil's tango while we are here?" I asked my aunt in disbelief.

"The what?" Jeremy had been the one that spoke, confusion showing on his features with a frown of his eyebrows.

"Sex."

"Meda!" My aunt shouted, laughter spilling from her lips.

"What?"

"Gross, I don't want to hear that." Jeremy grimaced. "I'm going out. Bye." He didn't even wait for us to reply before walking away, the front door closing behind him.

"Hopefully not." After a second, Jenna said. "Are you going to ask Zyran to come with you at the party tonight?"

"Probably." It would be much better having him with me.

Jenna smirked, patting my shoulder as she too walked away. "Good. I can't wait to meet him."

Shit.

───── ⋆˖⁺‧ ☽◯☾ ‧⁺˖⋆ ─────

╰┈˚ · ° .   The pocket watch in my hand weighed nothing more than a couple of pounds but was nothing compared to the weight it had on my heart.

I didn't have the best relationship with my parents, we were different. We wanted different things, perceived the word in a different way and that caused more than a few arguments between us. We had arrived at the moment where I couldn't stand to be in the same room as them for more than a couple of minutes.

Anger. What a powerful emotion. And what a destructive one. I didn't hate them, no, maybe hating them would have been easier. But what I felt was still anger.

And now they were dead and I was even more angry. I just brushed it away until it came two times more fierce. I did that one more, suppressing the rage until the blanket in my mind.

I remember the Sundays when I was little, with mom dressing me up as a faerie, with wings and wand that she had made herself, dancing together, and playing in the backyard of our house. I remember when she would do my makeup with glitter and I remember when years later she bought me my first eyeliner and eyeshadow.

I remember when my father would put me on his shoulder letting me pretend that I was flying with my wings, or when we would lay on the couch with animal documentaries playing on the tv. I remember when he used to read me books and tell me fairytales crafted by his own mind to put me to sleep.

And I remember the yells, my mother shouting for me to just talk, to just go out and have fun and have friends like any other teenagers. I remember my father yanking the books out from my hands and the way he would silently listen, not saying a word whenever I would fight with my mother.

I did not want to remember that.

This sage green dress that I wore was midi lengths with off the shoulder sleeves, spaghetti straps with tie closures, ruching at the bust, and asymmetrical handkerchief hem, and cuffs. I knew that if my mother would still be here she would have given me a once over and turned her head the other way with those eyes that spoke of her dislikeness without even having to voice it.

But she wasn't.

I steeled my mind, reinforcing walls containing the memories and anger, and I shut the door on my back.

My hand raised, hesitating before I made myself knock on the white door of my brother's bedroom, not waiting for his voice to invite me in. I walked in, he was with his headphones, listening to music sitting at the desk. A couple of crumpled papers around his sketchbook as he tried to find inspiration to draw anything.

He had not been able to draw since they died.

Silently, wordlessly, I placed the pocket watch on his desk before walking away.

"You gave it to him." Elena's voice came from my right. She was wearing a strapless dress that looked like the canva of an artist. Orange, red and magenta paint-like brushes strokes stained the pinkish fabric, the colors enhanced the olive tone of her skin. Part of her brown hair was pinned back, the rest cascaded down her shoulders and back in pin-straight strands. And around her neck she was wearing a necklace, a locket with a red gem embedded in it and details that stood out from the rest.

I nodded my head at her question.

"Good. He needs it." She said letting out a sneaky breath.

"Is this Stefan's gift?" I asked, brushing my fingers on the necklace only to winch, yanking it back when it almost felt like it burned my hands.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." I replied, plastering a smile even if I was very confused by what had happened.

"Yes, Stefan gifted it to me. There are some herbs inside, I don't know exactly what it is but... it smells good." She said, a smile curling her lips, eyes lost in thought as she took the necklace between her hands.

"It's beautiful." I said, "And you look beautiful too."

"Thank you." She replied softly. "You do too." The bell fortunately rang before I could feel awkward.

It was Stefan, and he and Elena were off to the founder party.

Only five minutes later, the bell rang again, this time when I opened, a grinning Zyran was outside. He looked hot. Very hot.

He was wearing a white dress shirt with a charcoal gray nailhead textured vest above, the tie tucked underneath. Dress pants and a suit jacket. On his hands the golden rings shined, and the chains that normally adorned his neck were gone along the majority of the jewelry in his hair.

Men in suits and elegant wear? Hot as fuck.

"You are breathtaking, Darlin'." His voice was breathy as he spoke, eyes darker than usual.

With cheeks ablaze, I smiled at the complement, sliding closer to him. "You look very good too, Zy. Very." I added the last part as a mumble as I passed my eyes up and now. Yes. Very.

"You can continue to stare at me while I drive us there, don't worry." He said, winking at me as he took my hand.

And I felt comfortable enough to say, "I sure will."

───── ⋆˖⁺‧ ☽◯☾ ‧⁺˖⋆ ─────

╰┈˚ · ° .   "A whole lot of old white men here." I commented looking at the photos of the founders of Mystic Fall framed on the wall all around the room of the heritage display. A lot of things were loaned for the evening.

Zyran snorted, "On lean from the Fell family. Silver teapot." He read out loud the note in front of the set of various different pots.

"I like seeing things coming from the past. It's interesting how the same things changed and evolved during the years." I said.

"But?" Zyran asked.

"But I hate stuffy parties with stuck up people that think they are better than the rest because their family allegedly founded this place."

"Allegedly?"

My look said it all. It was very unlikely that it was the truth, in my opinion.

"And we are here because?" Zyran asked, turning around so he could look directly at me.

"Because..." Should I say it? "Because my parents loved these things and they always made me and my siblings come." I said the words no louder than a whisper, eyes finding one of the dozens of things that my family had loaned. A mantle clock. "I always sat in a corner alone, watching everyone else. Bored out of my mind wishing to go home."

His hands cradled my neck making my gaze come back to him. His thumbs brushing the skin of the cheeks and his eyes, soft and affectionate, stared at me.

"I'm here now." he said. "You are honoring their memory by being here. But I'm here, you are not alone, Andromeda. I have no plans of going anywhere." I had the sudden thought that maybe he wasn't only speaking about tonight. And secretly, I wished that that was the case. He stepped closer until his breath fanned my face. "Dance with me," he said. "Dance with me and let me show you that you can have fun even at stuffy parties with stuck up people."

A chuckle left my lips as they twisted in a real smile. "Let's go."

"Hi!"

Or maybe not.

Caroline Forbes' smile used to light every room she was in, now at least to me, they make it cold, freezing. Her arm was interlocked with Damon's, the man had his always present smirk that I come to think never left his lips.

"How are you? I love this dress." And for once she didn't sound so fake.

"It's a very pretty dress. You look beautiful." Damon said, eyes alight.

"I love yours too." I said to Caroline entirely ignoring Damon and his sleazy eyes, smiling slightly at her. I didn't like it at all, actually, but I was trying to be friendly.

"Look, there is Elena and Stefan." The older Salvatore said dragging the blonde girl with her.

The look that Zyran and I exchanged was one of complete annoyance. It was so similar that I snorted out loud. I took his hand, following after the couple until we were with the rest.

"It's the original guest registry." My sister said as we all looked at the framed list 150-years old. "The founding families of Mystic Falls welcome you to the inaugural Founder's Council Celebration." Elena read out loud.

It was interesting in my opinion. A piece of paper, so old and fragile, was safely conserved, enough for even to be read.

"Look at all these familiar names: Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And Stefan Salvatore?"

I didn't know what was wrong with having names passed down through the family, but Stefan almost looked alarmed when Elena spoke the two names.

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Demon said.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past."

"It's not boring, Stefan." Elena told her boyfriend. "I'd love to hear more about your family."

"Well, I'm bored. I wanna dance. And Damon won't dance with me." Caroline suddenly said, making Damon hum in agreement. The blonde turned to my sister to ask her next question. "Could I just borrow your date?"

"Oh, uh..."

"I don't really dance." Stefan replied.

"He does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all." Damon informed the rest of us, contradicting the words of his little brother.

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to dance or leave his own date." I said, carefully to not put too much bite behind the words.

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Caroline asked, completely ignoring me.

"It's up to Stefan." my sisters said.

"Well, sorry, but I'm not gonna take no for an answer." The blonde said dragging the younger Salvatore with her, who definitely did not want to go.

"Come on." Zyran said. "You owe me a dance."

I was hesitant to leave my sister alone with Damon, but she gave me a quick nod letting me know that it was alright. So smiling, I took Zyran's hand in mine, letting him lead me to the dance floor.

Zyran smiled as he closed the space between our bodies until I could feel his chest against me not caring of the proper way. He brought my arms to his shoulders so I could coil them around his neck, and his own wrapped around my waist keeping me secure against him. And as a dance passed, and the second too, I moved so I could change our positions and place my head on his chest. It was more comfortable and I could hear his heartbeat like this.

"You are warm." I said softly, a whisper, cutting through the peaceful silence.

He chuckled, at least I thought he did since his chest moved underneath my head like a tremor.

"I could stay like this forever." He murmured.

And I really hoped we would.

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone!!

I want to live in Meda' cave, thank you very much.

my babies, they are so cute together. They are the first couple that I write that I did not take inspiration from the Enemies to lovers trope. Their relationship is soft, funny, and comforting. And I love them. They make me soft.

I hope that you like it as much as I do.

Thank you for reading this chapter, I'll see you on Wednesday!

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾