CHAPTER 26.3: The Barbecue and a Purple Flower
WARNINGS: small amounts of torture, stefan salvatore, damon salvatore, alaric (you guys think he should be a warning now??), mild abuse (really just bianca being dramatic 🙄), violence

ELENA SITS AT A TABLE at the Mystic Grill with the book Lorelei gave her from their trip. After finding out her aunt had a wife and the whole fiasco a day ago, she decided she needed to think about something else. Like her connection to Katherine whom she saw face-to-face, but didn't actually have a conversation with.

Athena didn't offer anything other than a 'she's not gonna hurt you' after Katherine had disappeared. She doesn't understand why Lorelei and Athena are so sure that Katherine won't hurt her. After everything she's been told about the woman from Damon, Stefan, and Athena herself—she just couldn't understand.

Elena sighs, flipping the page of the book. She shifted a bit, seeing someone sitting at her table from the corner of her eye and jumping. She gasped, startled by Damon's sudden appearance.

"What do you want?" Elena huffs, not having time for this. She just wanted a calm day after everything that happened earlier.

"So this is where you spend your free time when you're not stabbing people in the back," Damon drawls, looking around the Mystic Grill.

Elena rolls her eyes slightly, "you'd know that well. Caroline would too, considering you tried," she smiles sarcastically. Damon raises his eyebrows.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Damon changes the subject, looking around.

Elena narrows her eyes at him, confused. "My girlfriend?" She repeats, looking bored. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"The witch," Damon supplies, "about this tall, brown hair, weird glowing knife."

Elena rolled her eyes though a light dust of pink spread across her cheeks. She closed her book and stuffed it in her bag. "Lorelei happens to be doing something with Athena and my aunt," she said.

Damon cocks an eyebrow, glancing down at her bag, "where ya goin'?"

Elena levels him with a serious look while she pulls her strap over her shoulder, "I made myself clear, Damon. I want nothing to do with you." She gets up and starts walking but he says something that stops her in her tracks.

"Okay," Damon says, "though I just wonder how your little witch knows Athena. Or how your boyfriend does. They seemed to know each other quite well that night she attacked us."

Elena slowly turns around to face him even though he isn't looking at her. "What is that supposed to mean?" She demands.

Damon smirks a bit and turns to look at her, "you don't find it weird that Athena and Stefan know the same 15-year-old kid? One that they both have an apparent history with. I'm just saying that maybe... you should ask your boyfriend who your girlfriend actually is. Athena isn't on our side, Elena... she's on her own."

Elena frowns, "Athena is on my side because I'm on Caroline's. If I had to pick over her and you two, I would pick her. So, no, Damon. Athena isn't on your side. She's always been on mine," she said. Then she turned to walk away.

"I'll see you at Jenna's barbecue," Damon said and once again Elena stopped.

She turned, her frown deepened, "how do you know about that?"

"It was my idea," Damon shrugged.

Elena's brows furrowed, "and she listened to you?"

"Jenna went to high school with Mason Lockwood. So I figured a social gathering would be a good way to get to know the guy," Damon explained, smiling slightly at Elena. "So, I told Rick to tell Jenna, and—"

"Does Jenna know you and Alaric are gonna be there?" Elena asked, her eyes wide. She doesn't think Alaric and Bianca being in the same room would end very well. "She's not exactly the biggest fan of you," she said and that was putting it lightly.

A woman moves past Elena, setting down a to-go box in front of Damon. "Perfect, thank you," he says to the waitress before she goes back to work. Elena glances at it, frowning. "I'm hoping this peach cobbler will pave the way," Damon said, holding up the box as he got up.

Elena narrows her eyes slightly, "what are you up to?"

"I'm gonna put some silver into Mason Lockwood and prove he's a werewolf," he says, smiling a bit, "see you at the barbecue." Then he walks away.

Elena sighs heavily, running a hand through her hair.

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

"THAT'S RIGHT, YOU were gonna tell me why you came back to Mystic Falls," Stefan says, leaning back against the barrel of dirt as he stares at Katherine whom he had locked up in chains on a chair.

"You didn't have to do this," Katherine grunts, her body slowly healing from the vervain injection she got to the back. She hadn't figured out what he was doing quickly enough. Not that it will matter in a couple of minutes.

"Answer the question," Stefan demands.

"I came back for Athena," Katherine said, leaning her head back against the wall.

Stefan rolled his eyes slightly, smiling at her, "we're gonna play by my rules now." He grabs two gloves off the top of the dirt and hits them together to get the excess dirt off. He pulls them on and walks over to the vervain plants he and Damon had started to grow. He plucks one plume of it and walks over to her.

She tries to shift away as he gets closer. He grabs her neck, holding her in place. "Stefan, no—AHH!" She screams as the vervain touches her cheek, burning her skin.

He pulls it away, leaning closer to her. "Answer the question," he whispers.

Katherine glared at him, "you're gonna torture me now? Such a good guy move, Stefan," she sneered.

"I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get you to tell me the truth," Stefan says menacingly. Katherine huffed a bit.

"Stefan?" Asks a voice from the doorway. Stefan shoots backward, jerking his head toward the door. Elena stands there, her eyes wide as she stares between him, the vervain in his hand, and Katherine.

"Elena, what are you doing here?" Stefan asks, throwing the vervain on the ground and walking slightly closer to his girlfriend. Elena takes a slight step back, her eyes focusing on him.

"I came to ask—some questions. I heard screaming and ran down here... what—what are you doing?" She asked.

Stefan glanced back at Katherine before he gave his full attention to Elena, "I'm trying to get information," he said. Katherine grits her teeth, pulling at the chains, trying to get a feel for them. "What did you want to ask me?"

"How do you know Lorelei?" Elena asked.

Katherine pauses, looking over at the two of them. Stefan tilted his head, confused. "I... knew her mother," he said hesitantly.

Katherine scoffed, "'knew' he says," she muttered mockingly. Stefan turned a sharp glare on the woman. Katherine met his glare with one of her own, "you tore her neck open. Severed her head," she spat.

She didn't like Cassidy, not one bit, but Athena had loved her. Katherine would never have laid a finger on Cassidy unless she truly had to.

Elena's eyes widened as she stared between them, unsure if she should believe that. "Stefan..."

"Elena, look, Cassidy was a bad woman. I had no idea what I was doing, okay? Just like when I got human blood! I was not in the right state of mind—"

"You can not keep fucking blaming your lack of control for the things that you have done, Stefan!" Katherine shouted. Klaus had never done that, he was blood thirsty and he owned it. Athena had never done that, she owned up to it. Katherine has even done it herself! She understood it was harder for Stefan, but she'd met plenty of Rippers who could still feed on human blood and had learned to control it.

"Shut up, Katherine!" Stefan demanded, glaring at her, "you have no idea what it's like to be what I am!"

"You're right," Katherine spat, sneering at him, "but I've met people with the same problem as you. And guess what?" She tilted her nose up a bit, "they can control themselves because they want to."

Stefan snarled at her. "Stefan," Elena said and the man looked back at her. She looked between Katherine and Stefan once more. "Just... both of you, shut up and tell me what I want to know," she said, crossing her arms.

Stefan huffed a bit while Katherine fell silent. "Look, Athena... I hurt her a long time ago when I forced her to turn. She disappeared and barely talked to me for years. Damon and I stumbled upon her a couple of times, one of those being when Athena met Cassidy," Stefan started and Katherine shifted uneasily at the confused expression on Elena's face.

"Stefan, shut up," Katherine said. Athena was not going to be happy that Stefan was blabbing about her past. Especially to Elena. Especially out in the open with no protection on this house.

"Athena and Cassidy fell in love," Stefan ignored Katherine, continuing on, "and they had a little girl—"

"Shut up!"

"—Lorelei. I wasn't allowed around Lorelei despite being Athena's brother. Damon didn't even know of her existence. He only knew that Athena had abandoned us for some woman she met on a college campus. I met Cassidy when I followed them to a bar in New Jersey. They had just been married. I was a jerk and I never saw them again until—"

"—until you murdered her," Katherine finished. Elena had a bewildered and betrayed look on her face. Not just from Stefan having murdered Athena's apparent wife, but also the fact that Athena had a child and never told any of them about it.

"How the hell do you know that?!" Stefan exclaimed, annoyed. He stormed toward her, grabbing the vervain and holding it out threateningly toward her.

Katherine swallowed, but stared him dead in the eye, "because I watched you do it. I had shown up right as Athena had seen you. I watched you tear into the woman who was supposed to be your sister's wife's throat. With no mercy, no remorse. You ran the second her body was drained," she said.

Stefan glared and grabbed Katherine's chin, keeping her in place as he pushed the vervain against her eye. Katherine cried out, thrashing around in his grip to try and get away from the assault.

"STEFAN, STOP IT!" Elena shouted and suddenly, said man's neck snapped and he fell to the ground in a heap. Katherine breathed heavily, her eyelid closed as her eye slowly healed. Elena stared down at her hands in shock and slight horror. "Stefan," she gasped, running over to him and rolling him over.

"He's fine," Katherine grunted. She closed her other eye and focused for a long moment. The chains fell off and Katherine gasped in a sharp breath, grimacing. She was weak, very weak. Elena's eyes widened as she watched the vampire slowly stand up. Katherine disappeared out of the room.

Elena shook her head and looked down at her dead boyfriend. She knew that vampires with their necks snapped weren't really dead, more like asleep, but it still didn't feel any better to witness. Though she was slightly scared, her boyfriend looked like someone completely different than the one she knew.

A hand touched her back while another grabbed her arm. "Let's go," Katherine said, pulling her up with ease.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Elena argued, trying and failing to pull away from the older woman.

Katherine sighed heavily, grabbing Elena's other arm to keep her in place, "look, the Stefan that you know, is not the real Stefan. He's changed since he's become a vampire. He's not a good person, Elena, no matter how much he tries to convince you of that. Athena barely lets you go anywhere without someone tailing you, did you know that? She always has someone in the shadows watching you when you're with him and Damon," Katherine said seriously and Elena's brows furrowed, confused.

Why had Athena never told her that?

"She doesn't want to dictate your life. But she wants you to be safe," the vampire said, "I've done horrible things. I'm an awful, terrible person. I know that. I'm not a saint. But Stefan... he's worse because he says he's a good person despite everything he has done. That he's the 'good brother'. When really, he's the same as the rest of us."

Elena looked down at Stefan, taking in everything that Katherine had said. Athena hated him, Caroline could barely look at him. He was going to let Damon kill Caroline, he had no objections. What good person would do that?

"But..." Elena whispered, her heart and brain shouting different things at her. "But he didn't lie... Athena she never told me—"

"Lorelei is in danger just being alive, Elena," Katherine said quietly, "when you are related to anything Athena—especially from her own bloodline—you are a target. Athena didn't let just anybody know about her daughters. Someone she called family couldn't even be trusted with one of her children... how could she trust anybody else?"

Elena didn't respond.

"Come on," Katherine murmured and Elena went with her this time, allowing the woman to guide her out of the house and back to Jenna's. The redhead didn't seem surprised to see them together, just worried.

Elena cried into Jenna's shoulder for a long time.

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

"SO CAROLINE KNOWS about Lorelei and Athena and you?" Elena asked Bianca as the two of them helped Jenna set up her barbecue. Bianca didn't seem threatened at all by Jenna's ex–something was going to be there and Elena seriously applauded it. Not that Elena thought Bianca had anything to worry about, Jenna was head over heels for the woman, and that was clear as day.

"Oh, yeah," Bianca nodded, grinning at Elena, "Ma said she told her and Hayley everything after Caroline got kidnapped."

Elena nodded slowly, "that's probably what Caroline broke up with her for, and the secret that Athena couldn't tell me until she told Caroline," she said, all the dots slowly connecting.

"Well... yeah, but Caroline broke up with her for a different secret. Blondie didn't know about Lorelei until Athena brought it up that night," Bianca said distractedly.

"Honey," Jenna sighed, closing her eyes in exasperation.

Bianca paused what she was doing, looking over at Jenna and then at Elena who looked confused now. "Oh... Katerina didn't tell you—well, anyway—"

"What! No! I wanna know," Elena pouted, looking at Jenna who shook her head. "Why can't I know? It seems like everyone knows but me!"

"Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, and Alaric don't know," Jenna supplies.

Elena gives her a dead stare, "that's a great group I want to be categorized into," she said sarcastically. She and Bonnie still weren't on the best of terms, not that they'd talked much. She loves her, but she also loves Caroline. And Caroline may not have been the greatest of friends the past couple of years but neither were Elena nor Bonnie—yet, Caroline was there. When either of them needed something. Ice cream, stupid rom-coms, help studying, boy troubles. None of that has to change because Caroline was turned into a vampire.

Jenna smiled at her, pressing a kiss to the side of her head as she moved a couple of dishes to the table.

"You'll find out soon enough," Bianca eased, "don't worry, Elena. Since you've managed to make Lorelei your friend, Ma will make sure you're a part of the family... or whatever."

Elena blinked at her, "gee, thanks."

Bianca winked at her.

"So, Caroline and Hayley are coming. Where's Athena?" Elena asked her aunt, "I mean, thank you for letting them come, but where is she?" She doesn't think she could survive this without them. I mean, she had her aunt and Bianca, but she felt extra safe with those two as well. Not that she wants Caroline in the same room as Damon. Ever.

"Claire freaked Ma out this morning," Bianca explained with a shrug, "the woman that she was talking about means a lot to my mom. And Kol, he means a lot to her as well so she's trying to get tabs on him."

"Caroline and Hayley aren't the plus ones I'm worried about," Jenna said as she walked back over to her niece, leaning against the island. "Do you know why Damon is coming?" She asked, confused. She had been confused about the whole thing really and uncomfortable. Bianca had encouraged her to do the barbecue though, like she knew something—or maybe she wanted to make a scene. Who knows. She guesses seeing Mason was a plus out of the whole thing.

Elena huffed, throwing a grape into the bowl quite hard. Bianca gave her a wide berth, watching her carefully from the corner of her eye as she grabbed chips. "He wants to find out more about Mason," she explained, "and Alaric's a pity-taker. Why even is Alaric coming?"

"Hey, is it so bad for me to want to meet the man who was getting handsy with my wife?" Bianca asked, ducking out of the way of a grape that Jenna chucked at her. Elena snorted at the two of them.

"He was a nice friend to have and Jeremy likes him. I was just being nice," Jenna huffed and Elena gave her a 'really?' look. "Okay, fine, Bianca made me do it."

"Objection!" The woman accused exclaimed, scandalized, and Elena laughed. "Look, ladies, all you have to do is be nice for a couple of hours. Can't be that hard," Bianca said, knocking the side of her finger against Elena's head as she walked by. "I mean, Jenna, you used to put on the nice act all the time during my family's parties."

"I had Aunt Bex and Katherine to talk to. And Lexi, occasionally," Jenna argued, pouting, "one of them is dead, the other can't be here since she wears the same face as my niece, and the other is in a box somewhere."

Elena stared at her, wide-eyed while Bianca just stared dryly. "You knew Lexi?" Elena asked curiously, her eyes sad as she thought back to the blonde.

Jenna smiled slightly, "I did. She knew Athena—"

"Wait... wait, wait wait," Elena paused, blinking slowly as things started to make sense and not any sense all at once, "Bianca's mother is Athena. And you were saved by Athena in 1705 when you were about to die. But Athena wasn't born until 1841 and turned in 1864. So how the hell would you two even know of Athena before then?" She looked between the two of them.

Jenna and Bianca shared a long look. Elena tapped her foot against the ground impatiently. Bianca gave a slight nod, and Jenna sighed.

"Athena had a curse placed on her a couple of weeks after she was turned into a vampire," Jenna started, looking at her niece, "she was sentenced to reincarnate every 170-200 years. Sometimes shorter. She died in 1832 and was reincarnated in 1841 as Athena Salvatore. In reality, she's Athena Castillo, born in the year 979."

Elena stared at her, jaw dropped. She looked over at Bianca, waiting for either one of them to yell 'just kidding! Got ya!' but neither of them moved. They just stayed silent.

"Oh, what the fuck," Elena said, turning away and walking around the island, her head in her hands. Bianca snorted at her reaction. "So... so my best friend is dating someone who is over... what a thousand years old?" Jenna nods slowly, face scrunched up. "Oh, my Gods. Oh, my Gods. This is insane—insane! So, so, so Athena isn't, like, actually related to Damon or Stefan? Wait, but she is because she was reincarnated and was clearly birthed by their mother—"

"It's really weird," Bianca said, eyes scrunched slightly, "my grandmother, the woman who originally birthed my mom, never wanted to actually lose her. So she made it so her blood, despite being birthed by a different woman, always stayed the same. She was a Castillo. Never a Salvatore. If you had taken her blood as a baby and ran it, it'd say her birth mother was my grandmother, that she was related to my grandmother's other children. Not Damon or Stefan. It was the only thing she could do so she didn't completely lose her child."

Jenna stared off into the distance, a sad look on her face. The story of the Mikaelsons and Castillos was a sad one.

Elena breathed out, leaning against the counter. "And I'm guessing Damon nor Stefan know about this?" She asked.

"Correct," Bianca nodded, "it's better if they don't, right now. With everything going on. It keeps Lorelei safe. Stefan would not make the mistake of going after his 'sisters' daughter after what he did to her wife. And Damon, well, he seems pretty desperate to get into your good graces so he won't touch her because you are under my mum's protection."

Elena groaned slightly, nodding her head. Everything made so much more sense now. The thing with Bonnie's ancestor, the weird phone calls Athena would take, the difference in how she acts now than when she first showed up. The heavier accent.

"Cool," Elena nods, "cool, cool, cool, cool."

"You're freaking out, aren't you?" Jenna asked, lips pursed and side-eyeing her niece.

"1000 percent," Elena confirmed.

Bianca shrugged, "you're taking it better than a lot of people would have. I'm surprised Caroline and Hayley even looked in my mother's direction after everything. Your little community is quite... interesting."

"I didn't freak out that bad," Jenna frowned.

Bianca stared at her in disbelief, "you almost burned down our house, my love."

Jenna looked away, "irrelevant."

Bianca threw her hands into the air, exasperated. Elena laughed a bit. "Anyways, before Lexi was Stefan Salvatore's bestie, she was a person who my family was quite fond of," Bianca shrugged, "she and Jenna got along great. My aunt didn't particularly like her because Lexi always had a habit of getting under her skin and then flirting with her. Which had my Uncle threatening Lexi, and Ma making a wedding book. For some reason."

"I don't know, I liked Aunty Bex with Lex more than I did Marcellus," Jenna said.

Elena tilted her head, looking over at Bianca, "is your whole family gay?"

Bianca was silent for a moment, thinking. "No, I believe my Uncle Finn was straight," she blinked innocently at Elena who burst out laughing at the thought of one out of the whole family being straight.

Jenna smiled, glad that her niece was in better spirits than earlier. "Okay, back to the barbecue, we're all keeping an eye on Damon and keeping him away from Caroline. I'm honestly more scared of what she'll do to him than anything," she muttered the last part, shuddering at the thought. She hadn't been around the blonde a lot, but she had seen that when the blonde got angry—she was angry. "Which adds to the fact that I'll be nice when Damon learns to keep his paws off both of you," she smiled at Elena sarcastically.

Elena silently agreed. "He doesn't like me like that, you know," she said, "and I don't like him." Jenna and Bianca share another look. "Hey! I don't!"

"Oh, we know, honey," Jenna said soothingly, "but he definitely harbors some type of feelings for you. Even if they aren't as strong as his for Bellamy's."

Elena huffed, rolling her eyes.

Mason comes walking in at the point. Bianca had kept an ear out for him and had silenced the room when they were talking about family stuff. Now since he was back, she took it down and busied herself.

"Aha! Good news, ladies. Found the shot glasses," he grins. Jenna laughs at him. When she had gone to high school again just to keep Miranda company during those years, she had found him to be quite a fun guy. And he was cool with her and Bianca so, another win back then.

"That would be my exit," Elena says, putting a grape into her mouth and walking away. She shoots Bianca a 'good luck' look as she leaves the kitchen.

"You're here ten minutes and already I'm back under the bleachers at the pep rally," Jenna joked and Mason's grin widened, pulling her into a hug.

"It's just like old times, huh?" He laughed. Bianca shook her head at the two of them, high-fiving Mason when she moved past him. "Only I didn't swipe this bottle from my old man," Mason said, looking down at the liquor.

Alaric comes in from the back door who Bianca had yet to meet since she had to go help Crystal with finishing her move into a house on Athena's property. Athena had said she could stay in the boarding house, but Crystal said she wanted to have her alone time. Athena didn't ask any more questions after that.

He doesn't see her, only looking at Jenna and Mason. "Ohh, the expensive stuff," Alaric said, walking over with the plate of cooked barbecue. "I like you already," the man grinned.

"Just happy to be invited," Mason smiled a little, glancing at Jenna. He was a little bit protective over her like she was with him during their teenage years. Especially when she came out to him as bi in the 90's.

"Thank Alaric. This was his idea," Jenna said, before glancing back at her wife who was drinking some water. "That was forced upon me."

Bianca glanced at her, exasperated, "Bloody hell, woman. I wanted to see Mason, is that so bad? Elena, your bloody aunts being mean to me!"

"HA!"

Bianca rolled her eyes at Elena's response. Mason chuckled, shaking his head fondly at the three of them. "Same Jenaca that I remember," he said.

"Oh, bloody hell," Bianca grimaced as Jenna snorted at the ship name. Mason had made it one day when they were out eating. Bianca has been revolted by it ever since and Mason makes it his mission to bring it up every time they meet.

Mason laughed, dodging a slap from the towel that was in Bianca's hands. "Idiots," Jenna rolled her eyes fondly.

Alaric glanced between the three, silent and confused. Bianca left the room quickly after that, having to take a phone call. Mason looked back at Alaric, "so, you're idea?" He asked, slightly confused and suspicious.

"Yeah," Alaric nodded, shaking off the confusion he was feeling as he put on his best act, "I thought it'd be nice to meet some of Jenna's old high school friends. Dig up a little dirt." Jenna coughed uncomfortably, giving him an awkward smile.

Mason noticed right away, tossing his arm around the woman and tapping her shoulder three times. A sign they came up with to let the others know they were okay. Alaric cocked an eyebrow at the display of affection. "Jenna and I didn't really have many friends. It was just us and Ian. We were kind of loners," Mason nodded solemnly.

"Oh, tons of people wanted to be your friend," Jenna argued, patting his stomach lightly.

"Tons of those people wanted to be friends with Mason Lockwood, the football player," the man said dryly, "you and Ian wanted to be friends with me. The dumbass with anger issues." He grinned as Jenna laughed. "And listen, I got dirt, man. I've got dirt."

"Oh, please, I have no secrets," Jenna flicked Mason's nose gently with a gloved hand, Mason not questioning it since she used to wear them a lot during high school. "Just dirty shame," she said dramatically. Jenna grabbed the shot that Mason poured for them.

"Ian! Get your ass back in here!" Mason called and the woman came in less than a second later. She flicked the back of his head and grabbed her shot.

"To dirty shame," Alaric smiled and they all clinked their glasses.

"Cheers," Mason and Bianca said to each other then threw their shots back. Jenna on the other hand had turned to their newest arrival, Alaric smiling at Damon.

"Hey," Damon greeted.

"Dickface—I mean, Damon," Jenna said in greeting, having left the comfort of Mason's arm. Damon grimaced a bit, a closed-lip smile on his face.

"Yikes," Mason muttered, giving Bianca a look.

"Ashes," Bianca drawled and Jenna whined, throwing her head back in annoyance. Mason snickered, shaking his head.

"Fine, fine. I'm only doing this until Caroline fucking rips into him. Or Hayley," Jenna muttered so quietly nobody understood what she said.

"We were just doing shots," Alaric said to his friend, "let me get you a shot glass, buddie."

"No, here," Jenna argued, throwing back her shot. She tossed it to Damon as she walked past him.

Alaric sighed as he and Damon looked at each other. Mason turned to Bianca, "you gonna...?"

"Yeah," Bianca sighed, patting his back like it was a drum. She ruffled the hair on the back of his head, "good to see you, kid." Then she went after her wife without sparing a glance at the other two men. She'd introduce herself once she got her wife to calm down a bit.

Alaric moved to go after the two of them, but Mason stopped him. "I wouldn't," he shook his head, "Jenna is not friendly when she's like this. If you are not Elena, Jeremy, or Ian... she will end you. Learned that the hard way," Mason laughed lightly, shuddering.

Alaric paused and then stopped fully, turning back to his friend and Jenna's friend. Damon grunted, "yeah, she doesn't like me that much," he said drawing out the 'she'.

"She doesn't really like anyone," Mason shrugged. He set down the liquor after filling Damon's shot glass. He held out his hand, "we haven't met. Mason Lockwood," he greeted.

"Oh, sure. Hey. Damon Salvatore," the vampire greeted back, shaking the man's hand.

"I know," Mason grinned, "heard great things about you."

"Really?" Damon asked, surprised, "that's weird. I'm a dick." 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

CAROLINE AND ELENA sit out on the porch, Elena having been fidgeting with her phone. She wasn't going to call Stefan. Katherine had assured her he'd wake up and that letting him cool down was probably for the best.

"So... what do you think of Katherine?" Elena asked, not looking at her friend.

Caroline shrugs her shoulders, "I mean... she killed me and she's kind of a bitch. Though, she helped Athena so I'm thankful to her for that. Athena seemed happy that she was here, except she called her Katerina. Not Katherine."

"Katerina Petrova is her birth name," Elena explained, scratching her head, "so, it makes sense that Athena would know that part of Katherine as well as the one now."

Caroline froze slightly before slowly looking over at her friend, "what?"

Elena cocked an eyebrow at the reaction. Then she realized, "oh! Jenna and Bianca told me. About her whole curse thing and her actual age and stuff," Elena waved her off.

Caroline blinked at her but then nodded. "And you're... you're okay with it, right?" She asked slowly.

Elena glanced up, "what? Of course! You love her, Caroline. Both you and Hayley do. And Athena has proven to love both of you and she's been trying to keep us safe. I know she and I haven't always been... best friends, but I want to think we've gotten to a better place. That I've gotten to a better place."

Caroline nods, "you have." Elena smiles at her, reaching over to wipe a single tear that fell from Caroline's eye. "Gods, I don't mean to cry. Stupid enhanced emotions."

Elena giggles a bit, "it's fine, Care."

Caroline shakes herself, taking a deep breath. "Okay. Now, why'd you ask about Katherine?" Caroline inquired, tilting her head. She put a chip in her mouth. Elena shrugged her shoulders. "Uh–uh, 'Lena. Come on, spill. It's me and you, safe place," Caroline nudged Elena's foot with her own.

Elena took a deep breath. "Lorelei said something really weird when we went to go find stuff out about my birth mother," she started, playing with her fingers, "she made it sound like... like Katherine knew me personally. And that I knew her." Caroline tilted her head. "She said that... if I called her name, she would come. To me."

Caroline leaned her head back, thinking. "Maybe it's possible that you knew her when you were young. I mean, Jenna knows her through Bianca and Athena. And if Jenna was around when you were younger there was a possibility you had also been around Katherine. Didn't Jenna used to babysit you when she lived in Jersey?" Caroline thought aloud.

Elena stared at her friend, "how do you remember that?" Caroline shrugged, putting another two chips into her mouth. Elena shook her head, "I think she used to babysit me. I can't really remember anything younger than 10."

"10?" Caroline gaped, "woah."

Elena kicked her friend's shin, sticking her tongue out at her. Caroline did it right back and the two laughed together.

"So, in conclusion, there's a possibility I used to hang around Katherine and I just don't remember it," Elena finished after they ended their laughing outburst. Caroline nodded. "I wish Lorelei were here. She'd have answers."

Caroline eyed her friend closely for a moment, saying nothing. Elena noticed the look, frowning at her friend.

"What?"

Caroline shook her head, breaking her intense gaze, "nothin'." Elena was about to argue when Hayley stepped out of the house, walking over to them.

"Ladies," she greets, pressing a kiss to Caroline's forehead. The blonde sighs, smiling slightly. "Foods ready. And Jenna is very passive-aggressive. Maybe more so than you," she glances down at her girlfriend.

Caroline furrows her brows, "am I passive-aggressive or just aggressive-aggressive?

Hayley blinked down at her before looking at Elena. "Oh, no, I can't help you," Elena shook her head, getting up and making her way inside. Hayley quickly followed making Caroline huff. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

ATHENA PACES THE expanse of the library. Lorelei and Katherine watch her silently, concerned. Ever since the threat, she had barely relaxed an inch. It's been a day.

"Ma, we'll find where she hid your sister, okay?" Lorelei said, catching her moms arm. Athena paused in her steps, turning to face her daughter. She breathes through her nose heavily, nodding.

They had been trying spell after spell to figure out where Rebekah was. Athena was beginning to lose patience. None of the spells were working. Which was weird because only few people could throw her off. And all of them were dead.

Well... maybe.

"I know," Athena huffs slightly, squeezing Lorelei's hand gently, "but I just... the thing she said about Kol. It didn't seem right to me. Those two were close when Claire had been with us for that short period of time. They were, like, best friends. Why would she want to hurt him?"

Katherine tapped her fingers along the table, thinking. "You said that Klaus hasn't daggered Kol since 1300, right?" She asked.

"Mhm," Athena nods, scratching the side of her head.

"And Davina feels like she's being watched..." Katherine continues and Lorelei follows her line of thinking quite quick. So does Athena.

"No. No way," Athena shakes her head, "how would he even know? Nik and I were extremely careful—"

"It's been 8 or so years, Atty," Katherine argues immediately, "he could've found you out by then. Or... or he found out before that. You said you had felt like you were being watching when you were younger, right, Lorelei?"

The teenager nods her head.

Athena stares blankly for a moment, slowly calming her racing thoughts. She huffed, pulling out her phone. She dialed a number, pressing it to her ear.

It rang twice before the person picked up.

"Hello, dearest!"

"Hello," Athena smiled slightly, "I need you to do something for me."

"Whatever happened to 'hi, how are you?' or 'hi, brother, how has life been?'" Athena doesn't respond, just blinks. The man on the phone grunts, "what can I do for you today, dear?"

"I need you to get all of Cassidy's journals out. I'm going to stop by... I have unfortunate news," she sighed.

The man was silent for a moment. Then he said, "very well. When should we expect you?" He asked.

"Tomorrow," Athena replied automatically, "no later than that."

"We'll be awaiting your arrival, dearest. Goodbye."

"Thank you," Athena murmured, "goodbye." She glanced at Katherine who had a look on her face that screamed 'this is a very bad idea'. Lorelei, on the other hand, looked very intrigued.

"Can I come?" She asked, perking up at the thought of another road trip. This time with her mother.

Athena nodded, brushing Lorelei's hair behind her ear. "Whatever you want," she said. Lorelei grinned. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

"DRESS! BALLERINA!" JENNA guessed as she tried to make out whatever the fuck Damon was drawing.

"Puppy! Puppy!" Caroline said, raising her hand, "puppy with a tutu!"

"No," Damon said. Hayley shifted uncomfortably with the drawing. She knew exactly what it was and it seemed Mason did too.

"Okay, dog," Jenna started, "hound—hound dog."

"The song?" Bianca asked, glancing at her wife in slight confusion. Jenna turned to stare at her wife. Bianca shrunk a bit back, raising her hands in surrender, "sorry, cara mia."

Mason smiled slightly before he answered, "'Dances With Wolves.'" Everyone turned to look at him, Caroline with her mouth dropped open a bit.

"Ohh," Caroline murmurs, staring at the drawing. Hayley snickers a bit, kissing the woman's cheek.

"Mason wins... again," Damon said, taking the cap out of his mouth and putting it back on the marker.

"I still think your drawings are shit," Jenna said, shrugging. "I mean, how is that a wolf?" She looks at Hayley who shakes her head. "See? Not a wolf."

"She hates me," Damon deadpanned pointing at Hayley.

"Oh, I absolutely despise you," Hayley smiles, tugging Caroline against her side.

Bianca chuckles a bit, "I really like you two."

"Who even are you?" Damon asked, pointing to Bianca.

"Have I forgotten to introduce myself? Blimey," Bianca says with a rueful shake of her head. Elena looked up from where she was packaging back up the peach cobblers Damon brought.

"You are so British," she says before looking back down at the box.

"Shh," Bianca shushed the teenager and Elena rolled her eyes, smiling. She looked toward Damon and Alaric, "the names Bianca Castillo, a displeasure to meet the both of you."

Jenna throws her hands into the air, "what happened to being nice?" She deadpanned, glaring at her wife.

Bianca turned her head to look at her, "shh."

"Oh, don't you shush me. You'll sleep on the couch tonight," Jenna threatens.

"Ooh," Mason and Elena drawl while Hayley and Caroline decide that everything else is suddenly interesting.

Bianca's eyes widen slightly, "seriously? It's been three days."

Jenna holds up her pointer finger and thumb with minimal space between them. "This much patience I have left for you." Bianca pouted.

"Woah! Since when did you two get hitched?!" Mason exclaimed, grabbing Jenna's hand and admiring the wedding ring on the woman's ring finger. It was a thin golden band until it got to the top where it widened to hold the ruby stone. Small black diamonds surrounded the round ruby.

"Right after high school," Jenna smiled. Mason pouted, looking up at his friends in mock betrayal. "Oh, we would've invited you. But very few people knew. And then we had to move away—it was a whole thing," Jenna patted his cheek gently.

"You're married?" Alaric asked, his throat tight and his eyes wide.

Bianca smiled at him, leaning back and wrapping her arm around her wife's waist. "We took a brief break. We were having... problems. But, I'm back now," she explained with a shrug.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Jenna apologized awkwardly, nodding toward Alaric, "it was... it was a lot."

Alaric stayed silent, his eyes staring at nothing in particular. Jenna leaned into Bianca. Hayley and Caroline shared a brief look before the blonde started a different conversation. 

AN: happy new years!! happy 2024 everyone! i meant to get this out earlier than today, but i was busy all new years day and my birthday was the 2nd and just everything was hectic. sorry for the wait! here you guys go

who do you think athena called?? i wanna hear your best guesses. 

edited: 
wc: 6766
finished: 12/31/23