CHAPTER 40.5: Klaus Ventures Out (With No Chaperone)
WARNINGS: violence, damon, stefan, mentioned/referenced non-consensual kiss, referenced abandonment

"SO WE GO TO THE DANCE, we find him," Damon said like it was obvious. He walked down the steps, eyeing Athena out of the corner of his eye. Elena wasn't standing next to her since Luciana had made it very clear those two weren't allowed within five feet of each other.

Stefan had been glaring at Athena, like he was Superman and trying to use his heat vision on her. Athena, for her part, just looked bored.

"Really?" Stefan drawled, staring after his brother, the first time he'd taken his eyes off Athena since she got home, "how're we going to do that? We don't even know what he looks like."

"Athena does," Damon said, pointing to his sister, "but something tells me he's not gonna be sixteen and pimply."

Katherine tilted her head, nodding in agreement. Klaus would not be sixteen and pimply. At all. Honestly, she was hoping to see what Klaus' plan was for tonight.

"He could be anywhere at any time," Stefan said, "he compelled somebody at school." Bonnie looked away, huffing. "I guess it's not as safe as you guys thought, huh?" He looked between Bonnie and Elena.

Katherine narrowed her eyes at him, unimpressed. Luciana watched her closely. What are you doing here? Where's Elena? Katherine flinched just a bit, startled by her wife's voice in her head. Her eyes met Luciana's for a moment before darting away to not cause suspicion.

Don't worry about it.

I'm going to worry about it! Katerina Petrova, I will—

Alaric opened the door, stepping into the house and glancing between the group. Luciana's eyes widened just a tad bit, her magic reacting to the Original instantly.

Ohhh, you three are so fucking dead, Luciana promised causing both Katherine and Klaus to wince.

"There you are," Damon greeted, looking exasperated at Alaric's lateness.

Klaus laughed a bit, "I'm sorry I'm late."

"Hey, I need you to put me down as a chaperone at the dance tonight," Damon said as Klaus made his way closer, "Klaus made his first move."

Klaus tilted his head as if this was news to him.

"Okay, so we find him, and then what, hmm?" Katherine asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms, "what's our plan of attack?"

"Me," Bonnie said, like it was obvious, "Athena." Damon looked back at her, his face scrunched. "I'm the plan. Athena's backup." Katherine side-eyed her, impressed with the witch's selflessness. "Obviously, she's not gonna let you die. Which we will be talking about by the way." She shot Athena a dark look and the redhead merely cocked an eyebrow, smirking at her.

Katherine shifted uncomfortably at the reprimanding look Bonnie shot her next, giving her a nod.

"He has no idea how much power I can channel," Bonnie continued, shrugging. Klaus looked her up and down, flexing his jaw every now and then. "If you can find him, I can kill him."

Katherine's eyebrows raised, her eyes flicking to Klaus who looked a teeny bit uneasy, but otherwise unconcerned. However, the uncomfortable posture that Luciana was sporting put him slightly on edge. "That's not going to be that easy," Klaus chuckled, "I mean, he is the biggest baddest vampire around."

Katherine narrowed her eyes slightly at him, side-eyeing her wife who side-eyed her back. You're an idiot, they chorused and Klaus pursed his lips, his nostrils flared in an effort to keep his pout at bay.

"Alaric has a point," Damon said, "I mean, what if he—" He shot at Bonnie, the girl merely holding her hand up, palm facing the man. He flew backward, crashing into the table, and landed on the floor.

"Oh, I just cleaned that," Luciana grumbled, frowning.

Claire looked impressed, her smirk deepening. If she could get a Bennett witch on her side, then she'd be unstoppable. Especially if she took Klaus out of the equation.

Katherine's eyebrows raised, amused and impressed with the young witch's ability.

Damon slowly sat up on his knees, staring at Bonnie with wide eyes. She smirked at him.

"Well, I was impressed," Stefan said, looking at his brother and then at the witch.

Shut up, Stefan, Katherine groaned internally, wanting to stick a fork in her head any time he spoke.

Klaus agreed silently while Luciana rubbed her temple.

"It doesn't matter if he's an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me," Bonnie said confidently. Klaus tracks her with his eyes. She stops beside Katherine, "I can kill him, Elena." Katherine's lip twitched, a barely there nod moving her head. "I know I can."

Klaus shifts, glancing at Luciana who looks as uncomfortable as he feels. 

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

"CARE TO TELL me why Katerina is not in her chair?" Klaus demands as he walks through the door. Katherine had been able to slip away before Stefan, Bonnie, or Claire tried to get her. Luciana had followed some after, looking very close to rage.

"Care to tell me what the fuck is going on?" Luciana argued, placing her hands on her hips and looking between Athena, Klaus, and Katherine. She had already made the connection that 'Athena' wasn't really Athena so it wasn't a surprise to find her friend in Claire's body.

Athena didn't respond at all, her eyes not entirely focused. Klaus frowned in worry, moving toward his twin who was as still as a statue, sitting on the bed. "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly, his voice quiet as he set his hands on her shoulders, kneeling to be closer to her. He looks around, the absence of Isabella and Elena very prominent. "What's going on?"

Athena blinks a bit, her eyes going to the two women behind her brother, remorse pouring off her in waves. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely.

Katherine's brows furrowed, confused and Luciana raised an eyebrow.

Isabella came out from the hallway, her arms crossed. "She'll be out in a minute," she said, a scowl on her face.

Katherine's whole posture dropped, paling. She understood now. Luciana glanced at her wife, her arms slowly uncrossing as realization flooded through her.

"Oh," Luciana muttered, her hands beginning to shake. She didn't know if she could do this. What if Elena hated her? Luciana was going to be sick at just the thought.

Katherine reached for Luciana's hand, squeezing it firmly to show that she was there. That they were together. Luciana met her wife's eyes, lacing their fingers together. Katherine gave a sharp nod.

They were going to be okay. They'd do whatever Elena wished them to do.

Klaus decided that he'd come back in a minute, gesturing for Isabella to follow him. Isabella hesitated, looking back down the hallway. Whatever she saw made her relax and follow the Original. Athena grabbed a ring off the side table, slipping it onto her finger and transforming into Katherine Caswell, like that night in New Orleans.

Katherine caught her arm before her best friend could leave. Athena paused, her eyes meeting her friends. "We're okay," Katherine whispered, her hand slipping down to Athena's and squeezing.

The tension left Athena, her breathing shaky as she released it. She squeezed her hand in return, pressing a kiss to both the women's cheeks before following her brother.

When the door closed, Elena slowly made her way down the hallway, her arms wrapped around herself. She had on a sweatshirt that smelled intensely of Lorelei, the sleeve pressed against her nose and mouth. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, looking exhausted.

"Athena went to grab it for me," Elena muttered when she saw the confused look from Katherine. The woman nodded in understanding. Elena swallowed and headed for the bed, sitting down. "You two left me."

Luciana felt tears instantly burn the back of her eyes, looking down in shame. She hated that day more than anything, she hated watching another woman and man raise her daughter.

"I'm so sorry, Elena," Luciana whispered, her throat tight as she looked up at the girl.

Elena shrugged a bit, looking down at her hands. "I just... I don't understand why we couldn't just hide. Why did you make me go away?" She asked, her voice tiny as a tear slowly fell from her eye.

"Elena," Katherine murmured, moving toward her. She knelt in front of her but didn't touch her, mindful of her boundaries. "We didn't want you to go away. We love you. More than anything. Things got complicated back then. Not just because of Klaus and wanting to keep you secret, but..."

Luciana tensed a bit. "But, there were more people coming after us. We made a lot of enemies in our couple hundred years," she muttered, walking over as well. She didn't kneel, hovering around the two doppelgangers. "We couldn't afford you getting hurt. Staying together made us easy targets because of our combined magic... so we split apart."

Elena's lower lip trembled, her vision getting slightly blurry. "I know," she cried softly, her fingers twisting the material of the sleeves, "Athena told me... I... I kind of yelled at her. A lot. I didn't mean to, I was just so mad and my emotions were running high." Elena wiped her eyes, but it was no use. There were too many tears. "She's going through so much and—and she's dying. Why is she dying?" She looked up at the women who raised her for the first eight years of her life.

"Because... the world hates Athena Castillo," Katherine said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She pinched the bridge of her nose, resting her elbow on her knee.

Elena looked away, her breath stuttering. "I know... I know we have a lot of shit going on and that there's so much to talk about, but I just. I don't know what to do anymore. My life's been this one big... lie."

"No," Luciana shook her head, "no. Elena, Miranda was your mother. She raised you for—"

"9 years," Elena said, frowning a bit, "she's... she was amazing and I am forever grateful to her and Grayson. For giving me Jeremy and freedom and life, but I knew that something was wrong. Maybe not consciously, but it was there. They looked at me differently sometimes, especially when Jenna was around. Like I was an alien." Elena looked down at her hands again.

Katherine frowned a bit. Luciana shifted a bit.

"Athena told me Grayson was compelled, but Miranda wasn't. At least not fully. She was more open-minded to everything. But maybe Athena should've just compelled her too... then she might've looked at me like her actual daughter all the time."

"She didn't?" Luciana asked and Katherine eyed her wife warily, aware of the tone of voice.

"She's already dead, Luciana. Спокоен," Katherine said, rolling her eyes a bit. Luciana whacked her in the back of the head and the vampire winced. [Calm.]

Elena snorted a bit, pulling her legs up onto the bed to hug them to her chest. "I would do something, act a certain way. Miranda would give me this look like she was seeing an entirely different person. Like I scared her." Elena shrugged and tapped her fingers against her shins, "It never lasted very long, but it still weighed on me, you know?"

Luciana's eyes focused on a spot on the back wall. "Yeah," she agreed, thinking about her father before he found out about her mother.

Katherine nodded as well, remembering the night she had told her mother she was pregnant out of wedlock.

Elena hummed, focusing on the sweatpants she was wearing. "I don't think Lorelei will ever forgive me for what I said today," she said after a moment.

Luciana sat down beside Elena, making sure to give her space so she didn't uncomfortable. "What happened? If you don't mind me asking... some things that I witnessed today were certainly jarring."

Elena picked at her sweatpants, swallowing harshly. "The night of the day Athena got kidnapped, Claire stopped by the house. She was in Athena's body and it wasn't unusual for Athena to drop by to check in especially if Lorelei wasn't going to be with me. She was acting weird but it didn't click in my mind because I was... I was worried about you," she glanced at Katherine, "and that clouded everything else. Especially with Isobel killing herself and—" she shuddered a bit.

Luciana reached her hand out a bit but froze when she realized what she was doing. She wanted to comfort the girl but she didn't know if her actions would be accepted.

Elena reached for her hand, gently grasping it between both of hers and setting it on her knee as she shifted her seating position. Luciana's heart clenched in her chest, hope stirring in her heart. "I was already kind of in my own head about Lorelei and I too since she hadn't stopped by. She said she would, but then I realized she was probably exhausted and we'd talk about it the next day—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Katherine waved her hands around, "pause. What do you mean 'Lorelei and I too'? What happened?" Elena blushed immediately, smiling as she thought about the night they shared their first kiss. "Who kissed who first?" She asked, her eyes wide with child-like glee.

Luciana narrowed her eyes at the woman.

"I kissed her first," Elena admitted, her blush spreading down her neck.

Katherine jumped up, doing a little dance as a thud came from outside. The door opened a second later as Katherine, still dancing, held out her phone. Athena snatched it away, her own phone—one of her work phones that Claire didn't have access to—and made the money transfer.

"Fucking ridiculous," Athena muttered, shoving the phone back into her friend's hand and walking back out, slamming the door.

Luciana and Elena share a look, confused out of their minds before they stare at the woman who hums a song while shimmying around.

"Katerina," Luciana deadpans and Katherine spins around to face them, grinning, "what did you do?"

"Just made 50 grand, baby," Katherine smirked, shoving her phone into her pocket.

Elena's jaw dropped. "You two bet on us?!" She shrieked while Luciana threw a pillow at her wife.

Katherine caught it, chucking it back at the two of them much to their dismay. "Sure did and I won. Obviously," she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder, "anyway! Continue with your story. Continue, continue," she said, appearing back in front of Elena who was still staring at her incredulously.

"I can smack her for you," Luciana said, turning to Elena with an unimpressed expression on her face.

Elena glanced at her, blinking. "Yeah," she agreed and Luciana smacked the side of her wife's head making the vampire pout a bit and flick her wife's knee gently. "Okay. I was asking Claire, still thinking it was Athena if she'd heard from you. She said no and that she'd tell me if she did. I thought that was the end of it since she hadn't said anymore, but then I noticed she was staring at me with this... this look. A look I've seen on her face before—obviously better because the real Athena actually loves her girlfriends—and it weirded me out 'cause why was my hopefully soon-to-be girlfriend's mom looking at me the way she looks at her own girlfriends?

I called her out on it and Claire was like 'like what?' and I said, 'um, weirdly' because it was weird!" She threw her hands in the air, huffing, "I rambled on about how it's the look she gives Hayley and Caroline, and then she kissed me. It hadn't even been a second before I shoved her away and instantly berated her because, you know, still thought this was Athena and I was like 'no! Cheating bad!' I thought it was some joke or something and so I pleaded with her to give stop. That we could forget about it.

I told her to leave, but Claire tried to sweet talk me with some bullshit about having always loved me or whatever. I knew then that something was wrong with Athena because what the fuck, right?"

Luciana and Katherine were a mix of horrified and amused as their daughter told the story, moving her hands around to emphasize some parts along with some very interesting facial expressions.

"I told her to go away again. That I didn't want that. Then Athena's facial expressions changed and I realized... I realized it wasn't Athena at all. I was so scared. I tried to yell for help, but Claire compelled me—according to Athena—with a spell. She told me 'You love me. You're in love with me. We grew closer over the last couple of months. We didn't realize it until now, but we had been falling in love.'" Elena shuddered as the memory played in her head, her skin crawling as she repeated the words that had caused her so much pain already.

Luciana's grip on Elena's hand tightened, her whole body extremely tense. Katherine stood up to pace, needing to do something to get out her nervous energy.

"The spell wasn't done correctly, or something so I was still pretty much conscious. I asked her why she was doing this. Claire told me, and I quote, 'to ruin any chance Athena had at happiness'. Then she shattered the picture frame with the photo of Lorelei and me hugging the day I broke up with Stefan. I knew I was in trouble," Elena finished, frowning as she thought about the ruined picture. It was one of her favorites.

Luciana breathed in deeply, calming herself down. That bitch was going to wish Katherine had killed her all those years ago.

"We're going to figure this out," Luciana said, looking over at Elena, "she's not going to hurt you again. Ever."

"Agreed." Their eyes turned toward the door where Klaus, Athena, and Isabella entered again. "The wench is going to fucking burn," Klaus said, "but we need to be smart about it. Athena's body can't handle too much before her basic motor functions give out and she gets too weak to even hold herself up."

"Let me worry about that," Athena said, waving off the concern, "we just need a plan to get her and me in the same place. Luciana can do the separating spell and she can switch our spirits."

Luciana raised an eyebrow, "is that why you had me studying those spells over the past couple of weeks?" She frowned a bit.

"I needed to be prepared," Athena shrugged, "paranoia at its finest." Luciana hummed, nodding.

"What about tonight?" Katherine asked, taking a seat on the other side of Elena, "they've got a plan."

"And that is?" Isabella inquired, crossing her arms as she looked between their little group.

"The witch is all juiced up and aiming to kill," Klaus said, heading for the closet, "I say we kill her."

Elena's eyes widen, "what? No!" She argued immediately.

"She's ruining our plan, Elena," Klaus said, turning around, "we only have so many options."

"We're not killing Bonnie, brother," Athena scoffed, rubbing her eyebrow.

"What? Why no—" He paused and frowned at his sister, spreading his hands, "who is she?"

Athena blinked at him, cursing silently and wishing he didn't know her so well. "Nobody. Just—no," she deadpanned.

Klaus threw his hands up, annoyed, walking over to the dresser. "Do you think this Alaric guy has anything vintage?" He opened a drawer, pushing clothes out of the way. He frowned when there was a hollow sound. He pulled the piece of wood up, revealing an array of weapons. "Crossbows, wooden bullets, and automatics?" He picked up a crossbow and turned around toward the five women. "Who is this guy, again?"

"He's the local vampire hunter," Katherine said.

"Ironic considering he's friends with Damon Salvatore," Luciana sighed, crossing her leg over the other.

"Ah," Klaus nodded, "well, that explains the clothing." Elena tilts her head a bit, agreeing. He drops the crossbow carelessly. "The only good thing about this guy is his taste in bourbon."

Athena rolled her eyes.

"There's a high school dance. We won't kill the witch, but if she gets hurt, that's because she's being pesky," Klaus sighed and Elena released a breath, relieved.

"I'll go," Elena said and all eyes turned to her.

"No way," Katherine said, shaking her head, "the whole point of me pretending to be you is to keep you away from Claire—"

"I can do it," Elena argued, "I promise. Besides, what if we need you? You can't be in two places at once. You two can try to figure out what Claire is trying to do with Athena's body while I distract everyone."

Athena raises her eyebrows, agreeing with her silently. Luciana sees the look on her face. "No," she argued. Athena shoots her a look. "Seriously? This is already going to be hell for both of you! You're bound to see Caroline and Hayley and Elena's bound to see Lorelei, right? This is bad!"

"I'm a fantastic actress," Athena deadpans, "besides... I just want to taunt Claire. She knows I won't do anything yet, she'll believe I'm still recuperating from her 'epic plan'. Tonight I'll throw her off her game. Keep her distracted and away from the main fight. Nik, you're gonna need to get Bonnie to channel some of her magic. The full moons soon and if you get her to use just enough, she won't be able to channel again for a little bit. It'll give us time."

Klaus saluted her which earned him an eyeroll from his sister.

"Everything will be fine," Athena nodded. Hopefully. 

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CAROLINE WALKED OUT of her room, putting her lipstick into her bag. She was dressed in a pink skirt suit with a black hat on her head. Her hair was curled at the ends and she had diamond earrings placed in her ears. Pearls hung around her neck. She had black gloves on and black high-heels to complete the outfit.

She was hoping to corner Athena tonight, and figure out what was going on. If she could just get her to slip up, to clue her in on what happened...

The door opened behind her and she turned, greeted by her mom returning home from work. "There you are!" Caroline grinned, "you almost missed me." She did a little pose, her smile widening, "how do I look?" She did a little spin.

"Jackie O?" Liz asked.

Caroline giggled, "duh!"

Liz smiled, her throat tight as she looked at her daughter. "You look good."

Caroline beamed. "Thanks." She stepped toward her, seeing a look pass over her mom's face that made her worry. "Is everything okay?" She asked.

Liz with a brief look of pain, sighed, her face smoothening out as quickly as it appeared. "Uh, just some work stress," she said.

Caroline smiled even though she could tell her mother was lying. She gave her a short nod, wondering if something happened. "Well, you work too much," she said.

Liz smiled back, shrugging.

A knock at the door signaled the arrival of her dates. Hayley smiled through the glass even though it was smaller than usual. They had both been having a rough day, an extremely rough day.

Lorelei bounced behind her, waving at Caroline over Hayley's shoulder. The blonde beamed at both of them, walking over to open the door. Hayley's eyes met Liz's, the smile on Hayley's face slowly dropping. Liz shifted a bit uncomfortably at the look on her face. It was like Hayley knew she knew.

"Hello, ladies," Caroline greeted as soon as the door was opened. Hayley's hair was curled into two waves and she had on a gray dress, a gold necklace around her neck, and black heels. Lorelei was dressed as JFK, but her hair was down. Nancy Tuckerman and gender-bent JFK. They would've done it the other way around, but Lorelei didn't like dresses or skirts. "Miss President, Miss Tuckerman," she said.

"Miss Kennedy," the two greet back, Lorelei grinning.

"Hello to you too, Sheriff," Hayley said, giving the woman a short wave. Lorelei waved too and Liz found herself momentarily forgetting her daughter was an undead creature that killed humans at the sight of her smile as she stared at the two girls.

"Have fun," Liz said.

"We will," Caroline said, hopefully. She exited the house with Hayley closing the door behind her. Before it clicked shut, Hayley met Liz's eyes again and that same look passed over her face. Then she was gone.

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

"THE SALVATORE'S RELATIVES WERE SUCH pack rats," Elena said, sifting through boxes of old clothes from the '60s. She grabbed two dresses and turned around, "what do you think?"

Claire turned around from where she was tying her tie. Her hair was braided on one side while the other was in waves. Her suit was all black and she looked smug. It was not a good look.

Elena raised the pink and orange dress, "twiggy..." and then raised the patterned dress, "or sexy hippy?" She smirked, silently cringing at saying that to her crush's mother's face. Gross. Athena was going to have to scrub Elena's brain with bleach after this.

"Ooh," Claire drawled disinterestedly, sucking in a breath between her teeth, "choices, choices." Elena rolled her eyes a bit and turned away from the woman. "If Klaus gets to you, you don't say a word about any of this, you understand?" Claire said as she walked across the room, fixing her cuff links with a scrunch of her nose. She hated wearing suits, but Athena wore suits more often than dresses.

Elena narrowed her eyes at the woman's back, gritting her teeth a bit. "Yes," she said eventually, "thanks for the reminder, captain." She went back to sorting through the clothes.

Claire walked over to her, brushing Elena's hair behind her shoulder to reveal her neck. Elena swallowed, watching the woman in her peripheral. "Hey," she said, mock sympathy written all over her face, "Klaus won't kill you so you're safe, sweetheart. He'll probably just mess with you."

Elena nodded. "What is your plan anyway? He could just take me away and you'd never see me again," Elena muttered.

"Well, your little witch friend is gonna kill him tonight. Thank God. I don't know which twin I hate more. Him or Athena," Claire said, brushing off some nonexistent dirt on her coat, "that'll crush Athena. You ever see what the death of a twin does to the other?" She asked the Gilbert girl curiously and Elena slowly shook her head. "It crushes them. They become shells of a person. At that point, they're not even a person. And for Athena... it'll make that bitch go even crazier." Claire smirked wickedly at her reflection, straightening out her sleeves.

Elena frowned a little, turning away from the woman. So she wasn't planning on killing Athena, just taking everything dear to her away.

Huh.

"Ugh, Damon's here," Claire muttered, walking over to Elena and spinning her around. Elena grunted a bit, a little dizzy from how fast she was spun. "Play your part," Claire said.

Elena rolled her eyes, slipping her hands around Claire's neck reluctantly as Claire put her hands on Elena's waist. "I love you," Elena said her voice soft, her face set into a look of love and adoration.

Claire smiled, a wicked look in her eyes that made Elena shudder internally. It'd be over soon, they just needed time. Elena could do it. "I want you to tell me that when the night's over," Claire murmured, gently caressing Elena's neck.

Elena smiled back at her, sighing. She nodded and pulled Claire down to kiss her. It was all wrong and her stomach threatened nausea.

"Any time tonight," came from the doorway, mocking and dry.

They pulled away a bit, their eyes going to the door. Damon stood at the entrance, his eyes slightly narrowed and his lips turned down in a deep frown. When he saw their attention was on him, he smirked though his eyes were piercing Claire's with an evil look.

Elena's heart swelled, a small warmth blooming in her chest. Damon may suck, but he cared about her. Enough to show his discomfort and anger toward his 'sister'. Lately, that was a rarity considering he was frightened of Athena.

Elena chuckled softly, smiling at Damon before she looked at her options for outfits. Her face scrunched in slight confusion when she saw a piece of paper lying near the clothes.

That's when her eyes caught onto the bottom of it.

-Davina

Elena's heart sped up in her chest, worried about what Claire would do if she saw it. If Claire knew that Davina was trying to contact Athena, the woman would not hesitate to send someone to take care of the problem. While she knew not to underestimate the little witch, she wasn't going to take any chances.

"Elena?" Damon asked worriedly as Claire turned to look at her.

The brunette's head snapped toward them, wiggling her fingers and feeling that familiar pull behind her naval. Clothes piled on top of the paper, hiding it from sight. "Sorry, I'm just thinking about tonight. You know. Klaus and all," she smiled nervously at the two vampires, working on getting her heartbeat under control.

"We're gonna protect you," Claire assured, playing her role very well.

Damon narrowed his eyes at the woman. "I wanna talk to both of you about this... development," he drawled, crossing his arms.

Claire huffed a bit, looking at Elena. "Why don't you get dressed? I'll talk with my brother," she said.

Damon's eye twitched a little at the word 'brother'. Athena hadn't called him that in a while. Elena grimaced internally, knowing Damon was getting even more suspicious because of that. She wouldn't have cared if she didn't think it'd interrupt their plans.

"Yeah..." Elena agreed, grabbing the 'sexy hippy' costume and disappearing into the bathroom, grabbing the paper without the two vampires noticing.

Damon stared Claire down, scowling at her. Claire sighed, leaning against her desk and raising an eyebrow at the man. "You do not have any say in my life or hers, you know that right? I'm not going to take anything you say into consideration," Claire warned him, smirking easily.

Damon's jaw clenched in annoyance. "You're out of your mind," he said, "I don't know what the fuck you're doing. I don't know what that bitch Claire did to your head—but you need to snap out of it." He stepped toward Claire who was still very relaxed, her face carefully blank. "I truly don't think Caroline and Hayley will be forgiving of your shit this time. But maybe—maybe—you can still salvage it if you stop now."

Claire cocked an eyebrow at him, leaning forward to come face-to-face with him. "I. Don't. Care," she whispered, tapping his jaw tauntingly, smirking a bit.

Damon growled a bit. "Fine, whatever, but whatever you're doing to Elena needs to end. I guess... I guess I get it with Hayley and Caroline or whatever, but doing this to your own daughter? You said you'd never hurt her and yet you're killing her," he said, gesturing out the door.

Lorelei had already left with Hayley, but Claire got the point.

Claire rolled her eyes a bit. "My daughter... she's a spoiled brat."

Damon's eye twitched again, strike two.

Inside the bathroom, Elena had stripped off her clothes and quickly put on the outfit. She then grabbed the piece of paper, reading it over with shaking hands.

Hi, Ma and Lorelei.

I'm sorry for writing to you, I know you don't wish to hear from me, but I need to know. Is Elena still alive? I got my memories back earlier today and I remember you said that we'd only get them back if Elena did or if she was dead.

I won't write again. I just wanted to know. Respond as soon as you can.

Please.

I love you both

-Davina

Though the 'I love you both' was crossed out. 

'I'm sorry for writing to you'? 'I know you don't wish to hear from me'? First of all, why the hell is a 13-year-old speaking like they're from the 1800s and second, what the hell does that mean? Athena has been writing letters to her almost every day since she found out Davina was still in New Orleans. Lorelei definitely would want to hear from her sister, she's been counting down the days till she can see her again.

Something was going on.

"Elena, are you almost ready?" Claire called and Elena quickly folded up the paper and hid in the bag she brought with her.

"A couple more minutes, please!" Elena called back and quickly set to work.

┍ ∞ ○ ∘ ɹǝʌǝɹoɟ puɐ sʎɐʍlɐ ∘ ○ ∞ ┙

THE DANCE WENT off without a hitch, everybody enjoying themselves and dancing.

Klaus walked around the edges of the party, keeping his eyes peeled for the moment Claire and Elena walked in. He walked into the middle of the dance floor, grinning at all the young people enjoying themselves. He started dancing, making his way through.

"Nice outfit, Mr. Saltzman!" Dana greeted as she and her date saw him, "totally far out."

"Thank you, Dana," Klaus said back, running a hand down his jacket, "thank you. Now who is your date?" He looks at the boy who was holding her hands.

"It's Chad, Mr. Saltzman. From the third period," he says.

Klaus grins once more, setting a hand on his shoulder, "Chade, of course! How would you and your friends like, uh to earn a little extra credit?"

Chad nods, looking excited.

Outside the party, in the darkness surrounding the school, Athena and Isabella watch the incoming teenagers. They're waiting for Claire, Elena, and the boys to show up as well, and perhaps Athena was hoping to catch a glimpse of her girlfriends and daughter.

She missed them.

"Isn't that the Bennett witch and Elena's brother?" Isabella asked, keeping her at a pitch only Athena could hear since the woman was next to her. Athena turned her head in the direction Isabella was pointing, seeing Bonnie and Jeremy both dressed up.

"It is," Athena confirmed.

She watched as Jeremy pulled off his ring, holding it out to her. "Look, I, um... I want you to have this," he told her and Bonnie smiled a little, tilting her head at the boy.

"If you're asking me to go steady, I think that was the '50s," Bonnie joked.

"No, I'm serious, Bonnie." Athena raised an eyebrow, confused. She had an inkling she knew why Jeremy was giving her a ring to cheat death (not that it would work), but she didn't understand why. Unless Bonnie was truly thinking about channeling all those witches.

"The ring won't work on me, Jeremy," Bonnie said and Jeremy frowned in confusion.

"But it was made by a witch."

"To protect from the supernatural not for someone who is," Bonnie argued, shaking her head a bit and giving him a sad look.

Jeremy sighed and slid the ring back on his finger, looking frustrated. Athena tuned the rest of their conversation out, wondering how long those two would last. At that moment, Bonnie's string led to him, but there was a weaker one, barely there leading somewhere far away.

That either meant that their love was marked with tragedy or that the person was too young. It made sense that Bonnie had that, Bennett witches were incredibly powerful and usually were drawn to other powerful beings.

Isabella smacked her shoulder lightly, pulling the woman from her thoughts and causing her to tune back in.

Elena and Claire had arrived.

"Hey, you two," Elena greeted, her hand holding onto Claire's arm loosely. Jeremy's expression hardened instantly upon seeing them, his eyes sharp and judgemental. It made Elena wince a little so she turned to Bonnie who looked a bit uncomfortable. "Oh, you look nice," Elena smiled, hugging her friend.

Bonnie smiled a little, hugging her back. "You too."

"You guys ready to do this?" Claire asked, looking at Bonnie and then Elena.

Bonnie nodded while Elena's eyes flicked over toward the two people waiting in the darkness. She relaxed a bit when she met Athena's eyes and then turned back to her group, meeting Bonnie's eyes.

They enter the party.

Let the plan commence.

AN: annnnnnd we're back! so apparently there's a type of covid that's called the coronavirus which is like what you get before covid?? i'd just call it a glorified cold but wtv. anyway, sorry I hanve't gotten chapters out, my mom ended up in the hospital?? and I still have been feeling crappy! i hope you guys enjoyed!! thank you for reading!

edited:
finished: 03/26/24
wc: 6164