SEASON ONE — EPISODE SIX
"𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ "AND, SOMEHOW, SUNLIGHT'S NOT AN ISSUE?" Elena questioned Stefan as Brooke approached the two who were sat at a small table outside the restaurant and she held a tray with a two drinks on it, the tray resting on her hip.

"Please continue, don't let me interrupt you." Brooke smiled as she watched the conversation stop once she approached and Stefan nodded, smiling a little as she handed them their coffees.

"We have rings that protect us." Stefan continued after giving Brooke his thanks and he held up his hand, showing the Gilbert his chunky daylight ring. The youngest girl gave them both a look before smiling and strolling away to the inside of the restaurant.

"Crucifixes?" Elena asked, her eyes lingering on her cousin who had entered the building already and she looked back at Stefan, her expression tired and stressed.

"Decorative." Stefan replied simply.

"Holy water?" She furrowed her brows.

"Drinkable." He nodded.

"Mirrors?" She placed her hands in her lap, her eyes drifting over to Brooke who had exited the restaurant again, handing some customers food and drinks behind Stefan.

"Myth." He replied without hesitation.

"You said you don't kill to survive."

"Animal blood keeps me alive. But, I'm not as strong as Damon. He can be very powerful." Stefan leaned forwards a little, his facial features tensed and serious.

"And yet you let him get involved with Brooke?" Elena tilted her head a little, leaning back in the wooden chair as her eyes lingered over to Brooke again for a short-lived moment.

"Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me. I care about Brooke too but there wasn't much I could do." Stefan stated, he was a little disappointed in himself for letting the whole Damon and Brooke thing go on for so long, he was just really glad to hear that Brooke was avoiding him.

"He was hurting her!" Elena leaned her face forwards, glaring at her "ex"— boyfriend.

"He was feeding on her." Stefan corrected, his eyes glancing over at a customer walking by before he spoke again in a hushed tone, "He was able to take away her memories of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion, she never knew what was happening to her at the time. But don't worry, I gave her vervain earrings so no vampire is ever able to do it again."

"Vervain?" Elena questioned further, her glare still strong towards the vampire.

"It's an herb, it's in your necklace." He pointed at the beautiful necklace around Elena's neck and she glanced down at it for a moment, "No vampire can compel you with that on, it's a vampire's weakness."

Elena nodded, taking a sip of her coffee before she cleared her throat, hesitating before she spoke, "Will Brooke be okay?" The worried girl asked, that was a question that Elena had been asking for years ever since the Mary Elliot had died.

"Brooke has grown to become one of my closest friends, I care a lot about her and I'll make sure nobody ever hurts her again, I promise, Elena." He looked at her sternly, showing her that he genuinely meant what he was saying and the aforementioned girl slowly nodded, believing him.

It was impossible not to care about Brooke, Elena had no idea how the girl's father just up and left, it hurt Elena's heart just thinking about it.

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ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, Elena entered The Grill, her bag slung over her shoulder and the Gilbert immediately spotted Brooke wiping down a table in the corner of the restaurant, quickly approaching her, "So—"

"Shit, Elena!" Brooke jumped, squeezing her eyes shut as she placed a hand over her heart, trying to regain her breathing. Elena winced, sending her cousin an apologetic smile and once Brooke's heart began to slow down, she spoke, "Are you guys done?"

"No, actually, Stefan's taking me somewhere and I'd like you to come with me." Elena took a step forwards, the volume of her voice lowering just a tad, "I feel... unsafe around him without you. Please?" Elena sent her puppy-dog eyes and Brooke rolled her eyes with a nod, caving immediately. Like she'd addressed earlier, she would do anything for Elena even if they weren't as close anymore.

"Fine, I get off in 10." Brooke smiled and rushed off to serve some more customers whilst Elena sat down by the entrance, messaging Bonnie on her cell.

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"STOP HERE." Stefan instructed Elena from the back seat and Brooke frowned, turning around to face the oldest teen.

"Use your manners." She sent him a scolding look to which he put his hands up in surrender with a short-lived chuckle and she laughed a little, spinning around in the passenger seat as the car came to a halt. Elena secretly rolled her eyes at them both, she didn't know how Brooke was handling everything so well unlike herself.

Once the car stopped, Stefan climbed out and as Brooke went to open her door, Elena slapped her hand on top of hers, stopping her, "How can you be so calm about this? He's a vampire." Elena whispered to her in a tone that sounded like disbelief and Brooke glanced over at Stefan through the window, he was stood still with their back to them, staring at an opening in the forest.

"You know he can hear you right?" Brooke questioned her and Elena rolled her eyes, taking off her seatbelt, "I know it's going to be hard to wrap your head around but just remember to be open—minded. He cares a lot about you, just because he's a vampire doesn't mean he's a bad person." The older girl explained, she knew it was crazy but it was unfortunately reality, and she would have to live with it whether she liked it or not.

"Fine." Elena opened the door and climbed out, and Brooke let out a heavy tired sigh, climbing out of her side, "What are we doing here?" Elena asked as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, taking a few steps forward.

Stefan looked back, his arms dropped by his sides and he glanced over at Brooke, glad that she was there to know about this too, "I wanna show you both something." He smiled in the slightest way possible, hoping his soft expression would reassure his "ex"—girlfriend that it was okay.

"Okay, but we're in the middle of nowhere, Stefan." Brooke told him as she walked to stand beside a stationary Elena, placing her hand on the girl's inner—elbow, hooking onto her.

"This... didn't used to be nowhere." Stefan smiled a little wider towards the two cousins, who stood in front of the car, refusing to move. He turned around, looking at the huge opening of dirt and little piles of rubble, "Used to be my home."

He walked off closer to where bricks laid, and two blocks of brick with ceramic statues stood on top were left untouched, covered in leaves and dried up dirt. Elena and Brooke, arm—in—arm, followed behind him slowly, their eyes flickering around the opening, curious to Stefan's previous statement.

"It looks so..." Elena trailed off, searching for a word to describe the ancient—looking statues in her mind but Stefan finished her sentence for her, knowing what she was thinking.

"Old? It's because they are." He looked at her with a look of calm, whilst she was the complete opposite, panicking in her mind.

"He's 162 years old, Elena." Brooke stated, her thumb caressing Elena's arm comfortingly and Elena's eyes widened, her jaw dropping in shock. She lifted her hand up to her head, running her fingers through her hair.

"Oh, my God." She let out a heavy breath, staring at the grass but both Brooke and Stefan were calmer than anything else, the two close friends giving each other a look before Stefan spoke.

"You said you wanted to know." He told her, and she looked up from the ground, her facial expressions visibly repulsed for a split second, "I'm not gonna hold anything back." He clenched his jaw before looked back over at the clearing and Elena looked over at Brooke, who just shrugged, unsure of what to say, "Half-century before the boarding house was even built this was my family's home."

He looked back at the two cousins and gave them a small smile as he turned around, walking through the two brick statues and entered the clearing of dirt and stones, "It smells like death." Brooke whispered to Elena with a wince, and Elena shook her head although agreed, it smelt like what decaying would smell like.

"That's because my family died here." Stefan spoke, hearing their conversation and Brooke nodded, a little saddened, "Damon and I... we were both born here. The Salvatore Brothers, the best of friends." Stefan explained and Brooke felt a shiver rush up her spine, but joked nonetheless.

"Iconic. You could start your own brother business." Brooke smiled when Stefan looked back at her, chuckling but Elena's expression was confused as her eyes flickered between the two, she still had no idea how Brooke could be so calm.

They walked further into the abandoned clearing, fallen apart brick walls left covered in leaves and dirt and piles of rubble and logs scattered everywhere. The three walked side—by—side, Brooke in the middle considering she was the only one who was civil with both of them.

"You knew Katherine in 1864?" Elena asked, shaking her head as her fingers clutched onto Brooke's red leather jacket, "Damon made it seem like—"

"Damon was trying to make you think that I was still heartbroken." Stefan stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets and Brooke grimaced at the sound of the disliked Salvatore's name, moving closer to Elena mindlessly, "He saw that I was happy with you and he wanted to ruin it."

"What a dick." Brooke muttered and Stefan nodded in agreement, though his expression was serious. He turned to stand in front of the cousins in order to speak with Elena directly, his eyes glued to the girl he loved...

"All because you loved the same woman 1...45 years ago?" Elena questioned, her thin eyebrows knitted together in confusion and he only smiled tightly, shaking his head a little.

"She wasn't just any girl." Stefan began to explain what Katherine was about, who she was and how he and his brother both loved her dearly. They strolled around the forest opening until Elena spotted a bench, dragging her cousin over and Brooke sighed in relief, her legs felt as if they were about to drop off.

"She chose me." He continued as Brooke plopped down onto the bench but before Elena could join her, Stefan's words made her spin around in shock, her long hair tickling Brooke's forehead, "I escorted her to the ball at the original Lockwood mansion."

"The first Founder's Party. Where you signed the registry." Elena furrowed her brows even more than before, everything finally piecing together like the end of a jigsaw puzzle. Brooke's ears perked up and she snapped her eyes from the grass to her friend.

"Okay, wait a minute. How did you cover that up? Brooke asked Stefan genuinely and Elena turned to look at her, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Damon told me the names were from the original Salvatore brothers." She rolled her eyes as she spoke and Brooke laughed, shaking her head in disbelief that Elena fell for such nonsense, "What? It was believable at the time."

"No, Elena, you were so dumb." The older cousin teased, slapping her knee and Stefan had to refrain from chuckling to himself, resorting to a small smile at the sight of Brooke in such a fit of laughter whilst Elena just stared at her, knowing it wasn't the time for jokes.

"Ha, very funny, Brooke." Elena sucked in a breath of annoyance and turned back to Stefan, who continued to explain about Katherine, informing Elena of everything Brooke already knew until he bent down, picking up a cloth containing a ring which looked like an exact replica of Damon's, "Is that Damon's ring?"

"I took it from him. I have to give it back." Stefan shrugged but Brooke looked at him as if he was insane whilst Elena rushed forwards, shaking her head in disagreement.

"No. Don't, Stefan. Keep it hidden." She told him whilst Brooke stayed back, squeezing her eyes closed in disbelief.

"Elena, if I don't give it back—"

"He'll slaughter the entire town, including you and me and Jeremy and everyone!" Brooke rushed up too, standing beside Elena, who huffed in irritation. The Elliot girl looked over at Stefan and he nodded at her, so she nodded back in return, a silent interaction informing each other that he knew what he was doing and that she agreed to it.

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