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𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 - 𝐂𝐡. 15 Part 2
"𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒅, '𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒌."

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— "WHY ARE WE HERE?" Skyler grumbled as she followed Damon onto the front porch of the Gilbert house.

"Because they have alcohol and I want to hear all about their dirty little secrets." He smirked in her direction as they entered the house. Skyler rolled her eyes. They both knew the truth, they were here to keep an eye on Mason who was acting buddy buddy with Jenna, Elena's aunt.

"Okay, second question," she pursed her lips as she met her brother's eyes, "Why am I here?"

She knew the answer to that question too. Someone needed to be here to keep Damon out of trouble and his lips off Elena.

"My entertainment of course." He grinned devilishly, and she suppressed a groan at his obnoxious behavior. They made their way into the kitchen where Damon happily greeted Jenna.

"Damon." She responded shortly, her displeasure clear before her eyes even landed on Skyler. "You brought a friend."

Skyler cleared her throat and took a step forward with a polite smile, "Sister, actually." She corrected, "Skyler Salvatore. The better half of my brothers. Pleasure to meet you."

Jenna eyed her suspiciously but introduced herself nonetheless. Alaric cleared his throat and chimed in, "We were just doing shots, let me get you two shot glasses."

Skyler brightened, grinning at the hunter. She needed a good drink if she was to spend the day at the Gilbert house. "Yes, please."

"Ah, ah, ah." Damon cut in with a smirk, "You can't have it. It's illegal." He said emphasizing the word illegal as he met eyes with Mason, the older male who had an obvious thing for Skyler.

She groaned. "Sorry, illegal?" Mason asked, eyeing the siblings almost nervously. She smirked, he was catching on. Probably hoping she was just under 21, so his little puppy crush could be legal. She wasn't oblivious to the attention she gained from him and others, she simply didn't care. Why would she when she had Kol?

"She's seventeen." Damon explained a barely concealed smirk on his face as they watched Mason's eyes widen.

Jenna frowned as she did mental calculations, "You're Stefan's... twin, then?"

"Unfortunately." Skyler smirked, a perfect copy of Damon as she stood by his side.

"Right, so I'll get Damon a shot glass, and you a water." Alaric corrected himself with poorly concealed amusement.

Skyler glared at him, going to remark when Jenna spoke, "Oh here," she downed her shot in one go before handing it to Damon, "use mine." Pushing it into his hands, she walked past the Salvatore duo as Alaric watched tensely before following after her.

Following Damon into the kitchen, she slid on top of the counter as he poured himself a shot. She eyed the alcohol as he spoke to no one in particular, "She doesn't like me much."

"We haven't met." The wolf spoke, clearing the air, "Mason Lockwood."

Damon's eyes swept over to him, "Oh hey." He shook his hand, realizing the two had yet to officially meet, "Damon Salvatore."

"Skyler." She waved, her eyes still on the bottle of alcohol. Not her favorite, but it would do in a pinch.

Damon eyed her suspiciously as Mason spoke, "I know. I've heard great things about you." Ah, so he was ignoring the elephant in the room.

The elephant being his boner for a seemingly underage woman who was the age of his nephew.

"Really?" Damon asked rhetorically.

Skyler hummed, grabbing an apple and tossing it around out of boredom, she met Mason's eyes and smirked when he avoided eye contact, "That's weird, 'cause he's a dick." She bit into the green apple to hide her grin when Damon didn't even bother denying it.

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      "DRESS! Ballerina! Puppet!" Jenna shouted, she sat on the edge of her seat, invested in the game of charades they had begun. It helped that alcohol was involved — for those who were over 18 at least, Skyler scowled in the corner.

"Puppy! Puppy!" Caroline called.

Dancing puppy and puppy with a tutu were among the next guesses. Skyler rolled her eyes at their imagination.

"Hound dog!" Jenna called, growing excited when Damon pointed at her, "You ain't nothing but a hound dog!"

She shook her head in disappointment, licking her lips as she prepared to end their misery before Mason spoke, "Dancing with Wolves."

"Mason wins, again." Damon smirked, setting the marker aside.

The others groaned, "How is that a wolf?" Jenna exclaimed in outrage.

"It's a Damon wolf, he's shit at drawing." Skyler drawled with a smirk, taking any excuse to embarrass her brother, "Always has been."

"Oh, like you're so much better." Damon grumbled for only those with supernatural hearing to hear.

She rolled her eyes, "how much longer do I have to be here?"

"Now who's no fun?" Damon responded sarcastically with an exaggerated pout.

She straightened up in her seat as she grinned at him innocently, "Give me a drink and I'll show you all fun." As she finished her sentence she winked at Mason causing Damon to mock gagging.

"Okay, okay." Alaric interrupted as Jenna glanced between Mason and Skyler with a mix of confusion and worry, "How about we play a new game?"

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      "AUNT Jenna's getting tipsy." Damon said with a smirk as he followed Elena and Skyler into the kitchen.

"Lucky her." She grumbled, glaring at Damon who shrugged.

"Not my fault you're underage."

"And you're a-"

Elena interrupted both of them as she glared at Damon, "Would you stop plying my aunt with alcohol?"

Skyler raised her hand to volunteer, "I'll take hers if she can't have any more."

Elena narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend's twin, "Not what I mean."

Damon stood behind Elena, peering over her shoulder to see what the doppelgänger was doing while Skyler watched from her spot on top of the island countertop, "I want her to like me."

Elena scoffed in disbelief, "How's operation Lockwood?"

Skyler let out an 'ooohh' however Damon was unperturbed as he leaned closer into Elena's neck, whispering in her ear, "He's my new BFF."

Elena jerked away from the eldest Salvatore just as her aunt entered the kitchen, "there you are, isn't this fun?"

"So much." Skyler grinned falsely.

Damon glared at her halfheartedly before his polite response came, "Yes, thank you so much for inviting us."

Jenna smiled falsely, "Did I have a choice?"

"I know what you think about me—"

"No you don't." Jenna cut in with narrowed eyes, "you've never dated yous, I've dated yous."

He shrugged, "Well, I'm a work in progress."

Skyler snickered from her forgotten place behind Damon who had unconsciously moved to stand in front of her when Jenna entered the room, "Yeah, estimates finish date — never." He glared at her as Jenna hid an amused look.

Elena handed her aunt a cucumber bringing Damon's attention away from his sister and onto the set behind the woman, "Ooh, these are fancy." He commented, approaching the fancy set of silverware with a curious look.

"Thanks." Jenna responded politely with a nod, "My mother's silver set." She added.

Damon hummed thoughtfully as he picked up a knife and looked to Elena, his gaze going to Skyler before he set it back down.

"Mason." Damon called out as he brought a bowl over to the man, setting it down on the table in front of him, "Why don't you start us off?"

"Sure." He responded, cautiously eyeing the silver knife. Spinning the bowl around, he carefully avoided the silver before picking up a piece with his hands and putting it on his plate. He then licked the residue off his fingers in an attempt at casualness before he took notice of Alaric staring at him, "What? I apologize I'm an animal." He laughed loudly.

"Isn't everyone?" Skyler grinned, sitting down beside him on the couch, "I know I am." She smirked, flashing a smile with her canine teeth just a little too sharp for a normal human, however with her fangs not in clear sight nobody could have proof of her being anything but human.

Damon sat down beside his sister, pulling her closer to him and further from Mason while sending a glare to the wolf, Alaric let out an awkward chuckle before changing the subject, "So, Mason, you and Jenna never dated?"

Mason shook his head with a teasing grin, "She was always lost in Logan Fell-land." He responded as Jenna came over, setting down mugs on the table in front of the group.

"Ah, my first mistake." Jenna smiled, "Mason was a catch, he had girls lining up."

Damon's gaze fell on Mason as he responded in mock awe, "Really?"

Skyler hummed, sending Mason a teasing grin, "I'm sure he still does." She commented lightly, to Jenna it may seem nothing but a teen's crush, to her it was merely fun. She didn't have any interest in Mason aside from his last name, but messing with him could be fun — possibly the only fun she would find her since Damon wasn't letting her near any alcohol.

"Huh. I always pegged you for a lone wolf." Damon continued, acting as though he didn't hear his sister's comment despite the way his hold on her tightened in warning and protectiveness. He wouldn't let his sister get with a wolf of all creatures, even if she was only having fun. Skyler snorted as she fought the urge to call his 'subtle' ways out.

"Well, I'm sure I wasn't half the lady killer you were." Mason responded readily, Skyler's eyes widening in intrigue. She had her suspicions but now it was confirmed, he knows about the other creatures that go bump in the night — and that they're included in that.

Is it bad that she wished she had popcorn?

"How 'bout a toast?" He asked raising his beer. Jenna, Damon and Alaric readily raised their beers with him however Skyler stayed still, staring at the man who watched her brother. With no beer to raise, she was entirely disinterested in the toast and was more interested in the wolf.

"To new friends," he cheered. "Cheers!"

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      "HEY!" Skyler called to the blonde and brunette teens as she ran after them at a painfully human pace, "Are you guys leaving?"

Elena glanced at her nervously like she thought Skyler would tell her no, "Yeah. Stefan hasn't been answering me and I- I'm worried." She admitted, "So we were gonna go check on him."

Skyler nodded not particularly caring for the reasoning but unable to voice that if she wanted them to agree, "Awesome, can I come?" She asked with a grin, "This place is a bore and nobody's letting me drink thanks to Damon and his loud mouth."

Elena opened her mouth to respond, presumably in protest however before she could, Caroline beat her to it with a bright smile, "Sure! I'd love to hear all the dirt you've got on Damon... and Stefan, I guess." Skyler laughed as the three girls walked outside to Caroline's car where Elena got in the passenger seat while Skyler hopped in the back seat, sliding to the middle as the blonde rounded the car, stopping briefly. Skyler heard a hiss of air before Caroline continued, getting into the driver's seat.

She frowned in confusion as the preppy blonde started the car, what was that?

   "THANKS for this. I appreciate it." Elena told Caroline honestly as they drove to the Salvatore home.

In the backseat, Skyler nodded in agreement, for once she genuinely agreed with the doppelgänger, "Yeah, I seriously needed to escape them before somebody lost their head." Elena eyed her cautiously at her remark but said nothing.

"Here we come— to the rescue." Caroline smiled, a strange look in her eyes.

The doppelgänger frowned as she looked over at her best friend, "Why are you being so snippy?"

"That's my own drama." Caroline responded readily though not in apology, "But I'm sure that you two will beat the odds. Not that there's any study to pull odds from."

"What is the ratio of success for vampire/human couplings?"

"Death, death and more death." Skyler droned from the backseat with ease and a happy grin.

"I'm guessing nil." Caroline said, ignoring the backseat vampire's comment.

"Okay, Caroline."

"Sorry." She apologized halfheartedly.

Elena frowned, choosing to not respond in fear of starting a fight, instead she reached over and turned up the volume on the radio.

"Whoo! This is my jam!" Skyler called only somewhat sarcastically from the back with a grin.

The doppelgänger laughed, "Yeah, I love this song."

Caroline reached over, pressing a button and speaking loudly, "What's playing?" The computer told them what was playing and she smiled at her friend, "Ta da."

Elena looked away smiling softly  as she felt the tension ease when suddenly there was a thump and the car jerked.

"Did we just get a flat tire?" Skyler questioned with a frown, thinking back to the air hissing sound she had heard earlier... just before Caroline got in the car.

"Crap."

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      "ARE you sure the tows coming? We've been waiting forever." Elena asked Caroline for the hundredth time as the three girls stood beside Caroline's stranded car.

"I know it's weird." She replied as her friend paced, "They said they'd be here by now."

Skyler frowned, something was going on with her, even she could tell that much. She had noticed it earlier, shrugging it off as the drama with her and blue-eyed blondie but now...

Now she wasn't so sure.

She tilted her head at the blonde in curiosity. Maybe she wasn't just a dumb blonde.

"I'm just gonna call Jenna." Elena told them as she pulled out her phone.

"No!" Caroline exclaimed abruptly, making both girls freeze, "Just let me try the tow people again. And I'll use my aggro voice."

Skyler's frown deepened. Okay maybe she was overestimating Caroline, she really wasn't a good liar if the ever oblivious doppelgänger was picking up on things. She studied their surroundings curiously, "You know we're not far." She commented casually, curious to see where this would go.

"Yeah we can just walk from here." Elena agreed, thankful for the opportunity.

The blonde frowned, "I can't just leave my car." She protested.

"We'll come back for it." Elena told her easily, a means of comfort but also pushing her friend in an attempt to figure this out.

"Or you can stay with it and wait for the tow truck." Skyler suggested, her suspicions growing with each second though admittedly she didn't do the most to get either her or the doppelgänger out of this situation. She was far too curious for that.

"Just give me a minute."

"Caroline, what part of "I'm worried about Stefan" didn't sink in?" Elena questioned, her frustration as well as her concern for her friend and boyfriend growing with each second.

She just wanted to go see if Stefan was okay.

And Skyler?

Well, at this point, she just wanted a drink.

"What's the rush?" The blonde snapped, "Okay, why are you hurrying to get to a relationship that'll never work?"

Skyler frowned deeply at the girl, she didn't like Elena and she wasn't scared to admit it, but she didn't believe in butting into others' relationships. Mainly because if anyone butted into hers they'd end up dead, or with a stake to the heart. "Why are you butting into other people's business?" She questioned, crossing her arms as she pushed off the car. She really needed that drink.

Caroline glared at her, however before she could respond to that comment in particular, her friend spoke, "Okay, look I know that you're upset over Matt, but will you stop projecting it onto me and Stefan please?"

"I'm not projecting anything. You're human, he's a vampire." Caroline told her friend simply, "You're going to be 70 and in diapers, and he's still gonna be smoking hot."

"And you will never have his children, Elena. And you are too maternal to not have children." Skyler looked away, feeling like something was suddenly stuck in her throat.

There was one thing she had in common with the preppy blonde; neither would ever be able to have kids and none of them had a choice in it.

Kol and Skyler were never expected to have kids, not in their family, but they had talked about it on occasion, wishing on a hopeless star for a miracle because they wanted to see a kid of their own growing up and live life right in front of them. They had thought about adoption of course, but who would let two vampires adopt? Sure with the right compulsions they could do it, but even then, neither could imagine subjecting an innocent child that wasn't born into it to the dangers of the Mikaelson family.

After a while, they came to terms with it and the topic hadn't come up in a long time even if it had crossed their minds.

Dead people can't have kids after all. Even more so when their last name is Mikaelson.

"Where is this coming from?" Elena questioned, shocked by her friend's sudden outrage.

"I'm just trying to be your friend."

"Okay, well, do me a favor and stop trying." She told her, pointing to the tow truck now approaching, "There's the tow, I'm gonna walk."

"I'll join you." Skyler told her with a frown, she wanted to be alone, not stuck with either doppelgänger or preppy blonde, but thanks to her promise to her twin, she felt the need to keep an eye on the doppelgänger.

"No, Elena don't—" Caroline called, grabbing Elena's arm to stop her, except her grip was too tight.

The doppelgänger released a pained noise, "Caroline, you're hurting me." She said as she eyed her friend almost nervously.

"Don't leave me alone." Caroline pleaded.

Skyler stood to the side, ready to jump in if it was necessary despite the urge to stay out of any drama.

"What's wrong with you?" Elena frowned.

"Hey there, someone call about a flat tire?" The tow truck driver called, rolling his window down.

"She did." She said pulling away from Caroline and walking off, Skyler glanced at the blonde one last time before following her brother's girlfriend.

She sighed as the slow paced human walk began, "I seriously need a drink."

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      "FINALLY," Skyler called triumphantly holding a glass of tequila closely before downing it in one gulp and pouring another.

"Can you help me look for your brother?" Elena asked glancing at her in disbelief and barely hidden frustration, "That's the whole reason we came here."

"No, that's the whole reason you came." She corrected, sipping her tequila.

Elena sighed, looking around as Skyler turned her back away to pour another, "Stefan!" The doppelgänger called into the house.

The floor creaked.

Skyler turned in confusion, her brother didn't sneak. This was found to be fact when she found Katherine stood behind Elena instead of her brother.

"Katherine." She whispered feeling breathless as she dropped her glass onto the floor, the sound of glass shattering piercing her ears. She was prepared to find Katherine but not here, not now.

That was her first mistake.

"Hello, Skyler." Katherine said, smirking when Elena jumped in fear.

The second mistake? Dropping her drink.

The copy-Kat tilted her head curiously at Elena as the girl turned, "You must be Elena."

The doppelgänger breathed rapidly, staring in shock as Katherine stepped down into the foyer.

"How is this possible?" She questioned in disbelief, "How do we look exactly alike?"

Katherine stalked forward, batting her eyelashes at her clone and looking her up and down, intentionally making the girl nervous which of course she succeeded in. She took another step forward and so did Skyler, ready to intervene. Katherine trailed her hands along the girl's collarbone making Elena gasp, "You're asking the wrong questions." She said in a dangerous low tone.

"Elena." Stefan called as he rushed into the room, the doppelgänger in question stared at him in shock, and Skyler's eyes drew away from Katherine to study him, checking for injuries.

Looking away. That was her third and final mistake.

When Elena and Skyler looked back, Katherine was long gone.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked, approaching Elena worriedly.

"Not really." She shook her head, still grappling with the events of the previous moment.

"She made me drop my drink." Skyler complained, looking down at the shattered glass to ignore the way her heart beat rapidly, exposing her anxiety around Katherine that still remained even a hundred years later.

Stefan glanced at her but looked aaay when Elena spoke, "are you okay?"

"Not really," he repeated. The couple hugged each other as Skyler let out a fake gagging noise behind them, grabbing another glass as Stefan pulled away, shaking his head at his twin.

"What about you? Are you okay?" Stefan asked, his eyes narrowed in concern.

She frowned at him, repeating her earlier words as an answer, "She made me drop my drink."

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