a/n: Lottie's outfit for the chapter is above!

✫彡𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒐

Charlotte would never admit it but she really didn't want to step foot in Mystic Falls. Yes, she missed her friends. Yes, college was awaiting. But so was that feeling, true heartbreak. And the pity. Oh, the pity. She wanted to turn back and leave just as she pictured their faces. Angelina and Paulina knew her more than she knew herself, and they knew that she just needed them there, no words, nothing. As much as she loved the other girls, they couldn't get that.

"Do we really have to?"

Lina pursed her lips together before turning to Charlotte, "No. We are here because I know you really want it," She leaned over, holding the petite girl's hand, "But if that's not how it is anymore, we will leave. It's your choice, and it always will be."

"I want to be here...I miss them, but I don't miss this," Charlotte stated, looking around her as the Forbes vampire parked in front of Whitmore College. She got out of the car slowly and hesitantly as Lina slammed the door shut after her, preventing the Bernard girl from getting back in and running away.

The Gilbert rubbed her forearm in reassurance, "It's over, Charlotte. Silas is gone. Katherine is human, and she is never coming back. There's no more pain and danger. You are here, and only college and incredible years of your life await."

A small smile pulled up on her lips, and she looked from Lina's face to the college's pathway. "And remember, you get to keep me!" Angie enthusiastically clapped, standing in front of Charlotte, "I mean...isn't that just the best college experience ever?"

Charlotte sighed, nodding with a smile. Not-so very excited even though Angelina's presence brought her much-needed comfort.

"If it gets too hard, just get on the first plane to New Orleans," Reminding her, she shrugged, "You know I will always be your safe haven, Cher."

"Can't you be my safe haven here?"

Lina shook her head, "You know I want to, but I can't leave that werewolf girl with Klaus alone, he will mess it up, he always does," She sighed exsaperatedly, "And Elijah is not there to fix it, so someone has to."

She nodded to herself, agreeing, "Yeah, you are right. I will really miss you."

"I will always be a phone call away, and whenever I can, I will be here. I will be supporting you as you become the best architect this world has ever seen," Paulina reassured her, smiling as Charlotte rolled her eyes, "You and I both know it's true."

"Yeah, right."

"Let's go and unpack already. You can be sentimental in our dorm room," Angelina started, pushing them ahead, "We have tons of stuff to get through."

Charlotte tried to keep her feet attached to the ground as the blonde pushed her forward, "But our bags."

Angie huffed out, "Someone will get them, silly."

❃❃❃

Charlotte strolled through the hallway to find the door with the number Caroline texted her already open. She couldn't contain her smile as she walked in on Caroline and Elena spreading their stuff with Liz Forbes setting boxes. The Sheriff was the first to spot her as the brunette raised a finger to her lips, indicating a shh.

She tiptoed into the room, sneaking up behind the two, "You bought a panini press?" Elena questioned, turning to Caroline.

"It will look cute next to my toaster," Charlotte spoke up as the two turned upon hearing her voice, "Or maybe by the fridge?"

"Charlotte!"

"You are here!"

She laughed as the two of them pulled her in a group hug, and suddenly all the doubts she had faded away for just a few seconds. She tried to keep in touch throughout the summer, but everything that had Mystic Falls attached to it reminded her of Stefan, and she needed a real break from that and him.

Lina walked into the room, with Angelina hot on her heels as Charlotte pulled back from Caroline and Elena. The lighthearted atmosphere was full of tension as Charlotte stood between the two pairs.

Caroline still had her doubts about Angelina, she didn't fail to mention every single one in her fifty-seven emails. Elena and Paulina had grown to be...frenemies, you could say. Charlotte was thankful because that was as good as it could get.

"Well, this is awkward," Angelina commented, running her hands along the lining of the door.

The younger blonde nodded, folding her arms together, "Yeah, better catch the next plane to wherever and leave Charlotte for the exciting life of college."

Angie snorted out, "You don't know?"

"Know what?" Caroline inquired before turning to a nervous Charlotte, running her hand over her forehead, "Char?"

"Care, I am so sorry, I forgot to mention it. Angie suggested joining me so we can catch up, and you know...have a fun experience together, and I thought, why not?" She explained herself, a nervous smile on her lips.

"But our room is full."

Angelina jumped in, "Don't worry about that; I am taking another one across the hallway. I am rooming with Serena and some other girl."

"Serena knows too?"

"Care—"

Lina cut in, "Let's not get into that right now."

"Yeah, let's just unpack and talk it out later," Elena agreed.

Charlotte nodded, sending thankful smiles to the two Gilberts before moving over to unpack a few boxes and make her bed. Caroline said goodbye to her mom as Lina pulled Angelina aside to make space for the guy compelled to take their stuff upstairs.

"Hey, my flight is in less than an hour. I have to get going," Paulina told Angelina, sliding her phone into her clasp, "Will you take care of her?"

"Always," Angie replied without hesitation.

"Watch out for Elena and her lies," Lina added, without a care in the world if the doppelganger heard her or not, "Charlotte's been through enough with her."

"Don't worry; she is in safe hands."

Lina nodded, the unease still evident in her eyes as her eyes widened a little, recalling, "And no alcohol."

The blonde vampire repeated enthusiastically, "No alcohol, never."

She looked around at Charlotte unpacking her things and teasing Caroline to get her to chill about Angelina, yup, she wasn't forgetting anything. Lina didn't want to leave, but she had to.

"Cher," Lina called her over, pointing back at the hallway full of excited and clueless students, "I have to go."

Charlotte's smile faltered as she walked over, "Already?"

"Sadly," She replied, taking in a deep breath, "But you will be fine, right?"

"If I say no, will you stay?" The brunette asked, raising an eyebrow as Lina chuckled, "What's wrong with having another Law degree? Extra experience."

"Maybe next year."

Charlotte nodded, knowing that'll most likely never happen because next year Klaus' child will need someone to take care of her. Yes, it's a girl. Charlotte was thrilled when she heard the news. And obviously, the year after, Lina won't be able to walk away from that as much as she keeps saying it's for Klaus.

She pulled her taller friend in for a hug, "Don't go making another best friend."

"Look who's speaking," Lina huffed out at the hypocrisy, "You make best friends left and right. You pick up everyone now."

Charlotte pulled back, reminding her, "As if you don't know which one out of all those friends truly matters."

"Aww, there you go making me feel even more special than I already am." Lina pursed her lips together with a tight smile, feigning being overwhelmed by the wholesomeness of the moment before calling out, "You heard that, Elena! Keep thinking about it."

"You are a child." Charlotte pointed out.

"Yes, and I am proud of it," Lina finished, a smug smirk on her lips as she backed away and into the hallway, "Take care of yourself, for real this time."

❃❃❃

"Finally," Caroline slammed the door shut after Angelina excused herself to go and check out her dorm, "I thought she would never leave."

The Bernard rolled her eyes, asking (more of begging!) as she folded one of her shirts, "Caroline, please stop treating my friend like she is some disease."

The blonde brushed off the request, "Nevermind that, tell us about your summer."

"Yes," Elena agreed, sitting with her legs crossed on the be. She was in anticipation of the great adventures of Charlotte Bernard that prevented her from writing more than one mail all summer, "Don't skip through anything."

"I told you guys about it."

The scoff Caroline let out alerted Charlotte that she was stuck and there was no dancing around this, "In the one email you forwarded to all of us? Yeah, no, start from the minute you got off that plane."

Charlotte inhaled sharply, "No, that's too long. I will just let out something that's been eating me since yesterday."

"Okay, tell us."

She looked between the two, mentally preparing herself for their reactions, "But you guys, be warned, this is really bad, and I was really really drunk."

Caroline nodded, "Alright, say it."

She placed her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut as she revealed, "I may or may have not had sex with Matt Donovan."

"What?!"

"Matt?" Charlotte sensed there was an "of all people?" lying in that tone even though both of them had dated the blond bartender at some point in their lives.

"In what scenario is that even possible?"

Charlotte sat back on the bed, "I don't know, I went upstairs with a girl I met at the party and—"

"A girl?"

She shook her head, "Yeah, you have missed a lot, but that's not the point," Charlotte sighed, "Someone joined us, and I didn't think much of it cause he was...just blond, you know?"

The Forbes girl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as the brunette clarified, "I mean, you know, all blondes look the same."

Elena snorted out at that as Caroline raised her eyebrows, and Charlotte instantly added, "But not you or Angie, though—you guys have your own unique looks."

"That did not make me feel better."

Charlotte huffed out, rising to her feet, "Look, the point is I messed up big time."

"Maybe he was too drunk to recognize you?" Elena suggested, hopefully.

"Nope, he definitely called after me."

"And what did you?"

Charlotte took a deep breath, nodding as a way of self-assurance, "You know, like any responsible adult, I...ran."

Pacing the room, she ran a hand through her hair, "But, like, he probably got the hint, right? The last thing I want to do right now is to get myself into another complicated situation. And I don't want to lose Matt as a friend. I genuinely went upstairs to be with that girl only."

Caroline blinked, taking it all in, "Uh... I am really proud that you are embracing all interesting sides of you, but I am still in shock about the Matt thing," She folded her arms together, asking, "Is he even your type?"

"Is this all you could make out of what I just said?" Charlotte arched an eyebrow, "You know what, let's pretend it never happened. We are here. We are in college. College students mess up sometimes. It's fine."

The room went quiet for a few beats as the three friends took turns staring at each other. Elena sighed, getting off the bed, "So? Roomies, I think we should drink to...something!"

"Couldn't agree more, roomie," Caroline replied, and Charlotte exhaled, happy that the weight of that eventful trip was finally off her shoulders.

The Forbes girl opened her suitcase and pulled out two blood bags; she tossed one to Elena and the other to Charlotte before taking out another for herself. "To us and college, and being functional vampires," Elena raised her blood bag, making a toast.

"And to messing up...big time," Charlotte contributed.

Caroline finished with a small smile on the tip of her lips, "To the next chapter in our lives."

They clinked their blood bags in a mock toast before a knock at the door interrupted them. With vampire speed, they stashed their blood bags and turned to face whoever the intruder was. The door opened, and an unfamiliar girl walked in, carrying a load of stuff.

"Hey."

Caroline was the first to speak up, "Uh, who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Megan. Your roommate."

Charlotte turned to the two vampires behind her before looking back at Megan, "Hey, Megan. I am sure there is a huge misunderstanding."

❃❃❃

"A human roommate? Seriously, where the hell is Bonnie?" Charlotte whisper-questioned, walking out of the dorm room with Caroline and Elena, "This is so not how things were supposed to go."

"Bonnie is still with her mom; she should be back soon. I hope."

"You hope?" Charlotte raised her eyebrows, "So we are stuck with Megan? What if she sees our stuff? I can't feed like functioning vamp—beings. What if the food goes bad 'cause I can't keep it in the mini-fridge?"

"Right!" Caroline quickly agreed before adding, "What if I got a craving in the middle of the night and ate her?"

Elena inhaled sharply, looking between the two, "I am sure it won't be that bad. Remember it is only until Bonnie gets back."

Charlotte shook her head, "Can't we pay her to leave?"

"We can always compel her; it's cheaper," Caroline followed up on that thought.

Elena scoffed, shaking her head at the both of them, "We are not compelling or paying her to go anywhere. You two want a normal college experience. This is it. So we are gonna have it the way it should be."

"But I developed some really bad habits over the summer...," The brunette Bernard murmured, "I don't want an intruder."

The Forbes girl raised an eyebrow, "What type of bad habits?"

"Just...habits."

"Charlotte Bernard—"

She interjected, "This is so not the time for an interrogation."

"How about we get back inside and lay down some ground rules?" Elena suggested, reminding them, "We pretty much walked out on her."

"Yeah, ground rules. Let's do that."

❃❃❃

After Megan unpacked some of her stuff and Caroline and Charlotte managed to calm down a bit, Elena suggested they take a walk with their new roommate around campus—to get to know each other and their new home.

Megan was beginning to get a hold of the story, "So, your current boyfriend, Damian—"

Elena interjected, correcting, "Damon."

"—is your ex's brother."

"Stefan."

"You and Stefan are friends," She nodded to herself, concluding with Elena before turning to Charlotte. "You and Stefan had history, then friends, and then about to be a thing then he just up and left without a goodbye?"

Charlotte decided she won't bore anyone with the details of that night. It was need-to-know info and as far as anyone was concerned, upping and leaving without goodbye wasn't as bad as telling her she was an unofficial rebound.

"Do you think that I should call him?" Elena asked, adding, "It's not like him to just disappear."

"No way," Megan quickly answered just as Caroline said, "Absolutely not!"

Charlotte folded her arms together, "I think we should just let Stefan take his break in whatever form it may be. It's been a rough year," She sighed, adding for Megan's sake, "With graduating and all, it's so stressful."

"Yeah, I can relate," Megan replied, nodding before asking, "Do you have a boyfriend, Caroline?"

Caroline smiled, answering positively, "I do. His name's Tyler. He had to miss move-in day, but he'll be here for the first day of classes."

Elena shrugged, adding in a mock tone, "Assuming he registers. And picks a dorm. And buys books."

Caroline moved in front of the three brunettes, stopping them, "Speaking of minding one's own business, let's talk roommate ground rules. Privacy is very important to me."

Megan agreed, "Same here."

"I have low blood sugar," Caroline made that up as Charlotte raised an eyebrow, half impressed, "My diet's finicky, so keep your paws off my stuff."

"We'll split up the shelves."

The blonde vampire added sternly, "And if I suddenly get up to leave or disappear for a while, don't follow me or look for me."

Charlotte mentally facepalmed herself. Too much.

Megan, slightly unsettled and majorly weirded out, nodded, "Okay...sounds good."

Elena nodded, clapping her hands, "Great, then we agree on everything."

A student approached them with a flyer, "Excuse me, ladies. Party at Whitmore House tonight."

No one said a word while Caroline looks at the flyer he handed her before Elena confirmed, "We'll be there."

He smiled, mostly eyeing Caroline, "I hope so."

Charlotte and Elena exchanged a look. Yeah, they totally noticed that.

The Gilbert girl wrapped an arm around Charlotte's shoulder, Caroline following suit as Charlotte was the shortest of their group before they moved her forward while Elena sighed in contentment, "I love college."

❃❃❃

Charlotte arranged some of her belongings into a drawer while Caroline ran through Megan's stuff. The brunette silently shook her head before leaning down to pick up her camera from the bag.

Caroline loudly shut a drawer, and Elena snapped out of her haze, looking at the mess, "Did you notice how Megan's juicer takes up all the small appliance space? She has an entire drawer dedicated to organic linen."

"What happened to privacy?"

She huffed out a weak defense, "Maybe if she didn't take such long showers, I wouldn't have time to go through her stuff," The blonde squeezed her eyes shut before inquiring, "How are you okay with a fourth roommate?"

Elena shrugged her shoulders, "Because we're trying to be functional, and being functional means we need friends."

Charlotte joined in, claiming, "We can have friends in lectures and people we run into on campus, not in our room." She ran a hand over her forehead, "I give it a week before we have to compel her to forget she saw Caroline having breakfast."

"Right!" Caroline immediately complied with that before pausing, "Wait, why me?"

Charlotte blinked, looking to Elena and the Gilbert girl covered for her, saying, "It's just an example."

But the Bernard girl had already blurted out, "You are the least discreet of us. I love you, but you make acting normal a mission impossible."

She gasped, "I, uh, I don't," She shook her head in denial as she swung the mini-fridge door open, "You are both traitors. Ugh, and what the hell is protein water?"

Caroline pulled out the bottle in question, and her two friends shrugged without a clue, "You know what, maybe if I drink it all, she'll wanna move out," She opened the bottle and took a sip.

"Care, no," Charlotte was ready to chastise her before the blonde suddenly coughed up the water as it sizzled in her mouth, collapsing to the floor.

She choked out, "Vervain."

The door to the bathroom opened, and Charlotte stepped in front of Caroline for a few seconds, giving her enough time to look less...almost choked to death and more...Caroline.

"What's going on? Are you okay?" Megan questioned in concern as she walked out wrapped in a towel.

The Forbes finally straightened up behind Charlotte as Megan walked over with a clean towel to give her.

Elena assured, stepping in, "Yeah, she's, uh, she's fine."

"What happened?"

Caroline, slightly out of breath, claimed, "Water just went down the wrong pipe. I'm okay, really. I shouldn't have touched your stuff, I'm really sorry."

"Won't happen again," Charlotte added, handing her the bottle.

Megan shook her head, "It's fine. It just sounded like someone was dying out here," She sighed, "Well, I'm glad you're okay..."

She returned to the bathroom, shutting the door just as Caroline moved into full-on panic mode.

"She knows who we are—she drinks vervain water!" She whisper-shouted.

Elena, trying to remain levelheaded, said, "That doesn't mean she knows about us."

"But she knows something," Charlotte countered, crossing her arms together.

Caroline was ready to pull her hair out, and her best friends were the calmest she had ever seen them be. To their credit, they have been through more than a roommate who drinks vervain.

"Seriously? We share a bathroom with this girl!" She stressed out, desperately trying to knock some sense into them, "What if she's a hunter, and she stakes us when we're in the shower? Or she steals our daylight rings while we're asleep, and then we burst into flames when the sun comes up?!"

The Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Don't you think that, if she was a hunter, we'd be dead by now?"

Charlotte rubbed the back of her head, "Maybe she likes to play the long game, gets us comfortable, and strikes when least expected."

Elena's eyes widened, turning to Charlotte and mouthing, "Not helping"

Caroline looked up, an imaginary light bulb above her head, "I think we should lock her up. You know, let the vervain get out of her system, and then we compel her to forget about us."

"I think that's too far. We might provoke her to kill us faster."

"For God's sake, Charlotte. Helpful, positive thoughts only!" Caroline was the one to snap, "I am not used to this tone from you, it's even more unsettling than a vampire hunter for a roommate."

The petite brunette raised both hands in surrender as Elena stated, " The best way to convince her that we're normal, is to act normal. And do normal, human, freshman-y stuff."

"Such as?"

❃❃❃

Such as everything Charlotte had already spent the summer doing. Except with cheaper alcohol.

That would matter if Charlotte was allowed to drink and she was under strict orders not to. Not only that, but Angelina was on her every move tonight. No drinks. No unlikely behaviors. Just sober partying.

"Will she be there the whole time?" Caroline asked aloud, side-eyeing her ancestor, "This is a friend's night out."

Angelina ruffled Charlotte's hair, replying, "Have to make sure this one steers away from any grown-up drinks."

Caroline laughed, shaking her head, "Yeah, right. As if she would have drinking issues. Charlotte doesn't even drink."

Even with the faraway noise of the party booming at the Whitmore house, the silence was so loud after that one statement.

Elena and Caroline turned to Charlotte as she pulled on her jacket's long sleeves, wishing she could be anywhere but there, "Charlotte?"

"Can we just get inside?" She dismissed them, walking ahead as Angelina followed her.

She paused in front of the entrance, meeting an invisible barrier, "Never gets old," She commented.

Caroline and Elena reached them, quickly realizing what was happening. "I don't suppose the owner of the house happens to be hanging around here," Charlotte wondered aloud.

"Hey! I was wondering if you guys were gonna make it." Megan came into sight, greeting them.

Jesse, the flyer guy, walked up to her as the four vampires stood in front of the doorway awkwardly, "You guys going in, or...?"

"Why are you guys just standing there?"

Elena scrambled for an excuse, "We were just...Caroline?"

"Waiting for someone."

Angelina added, "She's late."

"Our friend, Serena—always late," Charlotte added unnecessary and untrue details to assure herself everything was fine. "We will wait for her downstairs. We will be back in no time."

"Right," Megan shrugged, "Well, I'm gonna go hang."

She went back into the house, and the four dropped the all-too-pleasant smiles.

"Like I said, she knows," Caroline repeated.

❃❃❃

"It doesn't make sense," Charlotte shook her head as they walked around the house, "Of all people, we got placed with someone who knows about vampires? Why?"

She was wondering aloud as Elena left a voicemail for Megan, attempting to explain why they left.

"Okay, it's settled. When she leaves, we grab her."

Angelina raised her eyebrows, "I am not participating in this."

Caroline took a deep breath, turning to Angelina, "You don't have to be here right now. It's clear we are not going to that party. So leave."

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"Why would I like you?"

Charlotte braced herself for the fight about to take place before Elena's phone rang, pausing it, "Megan's calling."

"Hey, Megan."

"Elena! You have to help me! He's chasing me!"

Elena placed the phone on speaker even though the three vampires could hear the fear in Megan's voice clearly.

She questioned, "Megan, who's chasing you?"

"Help me! Oh, my god!"

Charlotte looked up at the upper floor of the house, nothing out of the usual. Elena exhaled, "We can't come inside—the line's too long. If you come out—where are you?"

Megan screamed again over the phone, "Elena, please help me!"

Caroline went for the phone before Angelina took it, "Megan, dear, if you can hear me, come outside. We can't get to you."

Charlotte was looking up at the house before Caroline pulled her away as Megan's body fell where the brunette stood a few seconds ago, "Oh, God."

Angelina hung up as Elena crouched down, noticing Megan's neck was ripped open.

"Who did this to her?"

"This was a vampire."

❃❃❃

Officials surrounded Megan's body and covered it up while the four vampires observed from a short distance away. Charlotte was already feeling sick to her stomach and recalling why she was so hesitant about coming back.

"What is happening? Our roommate is dead, there was a vampire at the party...," Elena trailed off, shaking her head at herself.

Caroline interjected, "We don't know what she knew or who she told. We should get out of here."

Elena's eyes widened, remembering, "Wait, I left that message in her voicemail!"

"Don't worry, I took her phone."

"Smart move," Angelina complimented, but it didn't change a thing about the look Caroline had been giving her since she arrived.

They quietened down as a policewoman approached them, "Hey, girls? I'm Dianne Freeman, I'm head of Campus Security. Are you okay?"

"I mean, I think so," The Gilbert girl answered for them.

Officer Freeman nodded before stating, "I understand Megan was your roommate. I'm so sorry you had to find her like this."

Caroline raised an eyebrow, "Do they know what happened?"

"We found a note," Officer Freeman revealed, "Apparently, she was struggling with severe depression."

Angelina ran a hand through her hair, questioning, "Wait, what exactly do you mean by you found a note?"

"Your roommate took her own life."

Charlotte scoffed, "Are you kidding me? You think this was a suicide?"

"We're convinced it was a suicide," Freeman repeated just as Angelina nudged Charlotte to drop it, "but we can't seem to find her cell phone. Have you seen it?"

"No."

"Okay. If it turns up, let us know?"

They nodded, and the officer walked away as Charlotte breathed out, "What the hell is going on?"

❃❃❃

They walked back to the dorms and separated; Angelina into her room and the three others to their shared dorm. Caroline deleted Elena's voicemail from Megan's phone on the way there, eliminating one problem. However, when they arrived in the room and went thoroughly through the deceased's phone, they discovered a bigger problem.

Apparently, Megan knew Elena's dad. And so, the plot thickens.

Charlotte got in the bed in front of Caroline's, and the one in front of Elena's (that was once meant for Megan) remained empty. She laid her head on the fixed pillows and sighed.

In front of her, Caroline sat in bed, playing Tyler's voicemail.

"Hey, Caroline. I've put a lot of thought into this and decided to defer school for now. This werewolf pack I'm helping...they need me. I know it's lame to do this over the phone, but I figure this way it's harder for you to kill me. I'm really, really sorry, Care...but this is important."

The message ended, and Caroline hung up. Charlotte could hear her friend starting to cry and, in turn, got out of bed and walked up to her friend's bed

"Scoot over," She nudged the blonde.

"Charlotte, I am fine."

Charlotte laid down, forcing Caroline to accommodate, "Well, I am not so deal with it." She spooned the Forbes girl despite her insisting that she was more than fine, "Elena?"

"Oh, c'mon, now, this bed can barely take me."

"Shhh."

They moved over another time when Elena joined the spooning sandwich Charlotte had formed with herself squeezed in between, "This is warm."

"Tyler's an idiot," Charlotte said, holding on to Caroline, "He could live a thousand lives, but he won't meet someone who loves him as much as you do in any of them."

She sniffled back, holding her tears, "I'm really glad that you're here."

"We're both really glad that you're here, too."

❃❃❃