a/n: Lottie's outfit for the day is on the left and the dress for the funeral is on the right!

✫彡𝑐𝘩𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒

Here's the thing. Charlotte's dreams of getting back to Stefan and forgetting the past summer ever existed were gone, poof, into thin air. Because this Stefan had no clue who she was and who he was, to begin with.

Calling it a bit of a snag was an understatement.

Which was what Damon did.

"He said that right before proclaiming a good ol' brothers' time will be the only fix to this," Charlotte relayed the news to Angelina, Serena, Jeremy, and Alec (Serena's now boyfriend!) in the kitchen as she moved around, preparing breakfast, "And it's been hours since he last called! What even certifies him to do this?"

Serena took a bite out of a raspberry she found in the fridge before stating, "Well, he was the one to introduce you to civilization when you got out of the tomb if I remember correctly."

"Serena!" Charlotte hissed out, looking from the human Bernard to her boyfriend at the table.

"Oh, chill, Alec knows. He is a warlock."

"A what?" Charlotte gaped as Jeremy raised his eyebrows and Angelina whistled out.

Jeremy clarified, "A witch who is a guy."

"Yup," Alec confirmed, popping the p.

"And you were going to tell me this when?" Charlotte asked as she distributed the scrambled eggs over the plates on the kitchen island.

Serena sat down, taking her plate, "Now?"

"Real funny."

Angelina huffed out, joining the conversation, "Okay, okay, but she has a point. Stefan will live. It's just some family time."

Charlotte sighed, resting her hands on the table, "I am just...I am worried."

"We can tell," They said in unison.

To which the Bernard vampire frowned her eyebrows, "How?"

"You cook and smother when you are worried, it's the most you thing in the world," Serena stated, eating her food, "And I love it, but you should get out there and handle your problems by yourself. Like the strong independent woman you are."

She took that in and nodded, like a woman on a mission, "I should get out there and hijack Damon's remembrance mission."

"Do you need a friend to tag along?" Angelina asked, raising an eyebrow, "I feel like taking a jog down memory lane."

"Yeah, sure, c'mon," Charlotte grabbed her crossbody bag from the table before turning to the Gilbert boy at the end of the table, "Hey, Jer, have you heard from Bonnie?"

"Uh, no."

"Damon wanted me to reach her to see if there is any witchy solution around this," Charlotte said, sighing, "But aside from that, I haven't heard from her except like once all summer. It is so weird, right?"

"Yeah...," He paused, shrugging, "I think she is in DC with her mom."

Serena raised her eyebrows, "She dodged my calls all summer and emailed me like once or twice too. I mean Abby can't be that smothering."

Jeremy choked a little, swallowing his breakfast, "I am sure she is fine and will call soon."

"Yeah, it's Bonnie. Of course, she is fine, just a little MIA."

❃❃❃

Charlotte and Angelina made their way through the Town Square, headed to the Mystic Grill when they ran into the one and only Elena Gilbert.

"Hey, you are going to see Stefan too?"

"Yup," Charlotte replied and kept strolling as Elena joined them.

Elena folded her arms together, "You think he would have remembered anything by now?"

"I am hopeful," She responded in one line.

Angelina shrugged her shoulders, "I think vampire amnesia is probably permanent."

The Bernard girl pretended not to hear Angelina as she opened the door to the Mystic Grill and walked through and up to Damon and Stefan's table. They were drinking. It was the middle of the day and they were already drinking.

Last time Charlotte Bernard lets Damon handle anything.

"What happened to the memory lane trip?" Charlotte asked, reaching their table.

"We had a little detour," Damon answered.

Stefan looked up at her, studying her features for over a minute as Charlotte frowned, "You are Charlotte Bernard, love of my life?"

She paused, turning to Damon, "He remembers?"

"Nah," Stefan cut in, answering, "But I studied pictures," He explained, adding as he looked over her once more, "They don't do you justice."

Charlotte could feel her face heat up as she pulled out a chair to sit down, by the time Angelina and Elena made it to the table. Stefan's eyes landed on the blonde, stating, "And this is a Forbes."

"Which of them?" Angelina raised an eyebrow, sporting a smile before she pulled herself a chair to settle in at the middle of the table, "Think very carefully."

"Hmmm...Angelina?"

"Correct! We are already making progress, see?" Angelina clapped, looking at Charlotte and the brunette laughed as if the Forbes girl wasn't just doubting that entire operation five minutes prior.

"And there I thought catching up on nearly two centuries would be a drag," Elena commented.

Stefan looked at her, questioning, "Remind me of your name again?"

Angelina couldn't hide her smile as she reached for a glass of liquor on the table. Oh, Mystic Falls is all the fun. Lina is truly missing out. Charlotte rested her face on the back of her palm as Elena forced out a reply, seeming hurt by the lack of recognition, "Elena Gilbert."

"Elena. Right."

"So you are related to Lina?"

Something about Damon choosing to specifically detail everything that occurred in 1864 made Charlotte a little less uneasy.

"You haven't told him about me?" She asked Damon, seeing that the older Salvatore had it in him to relay information centuries old like Charlotte Bernard, Paulina Gilbert, and Angelina Forbes, but forgot to mention his brother's ex-girlfriend ever so casually.

"Two hundred years is a long time," He said as the bell rang and he raised his glass to his lips.

"Right, well...."

Angie stood up, "I think we are going to need more shots and glasses."

Charlotte nodded, turning to Stefan, "It is Remembrance Day after all."

❃❃❃

"So, how long have I known you again?"

Angie tilted her head, calculating, "Technically, your whole life. However, I left town a little while after you did in 1864 then I guess, I respawned in your life a good while before summer. I came back for Charlotte."

He nodded, "And where were you from 1864 till...we found each other again?"

Charlotte reached for her daylight necklace, seeking an escape from the discomfort when she remembered that she tossed the necklace Stefan got for her before leaving town, "Uh...I was in the tomb. Where a lot of vampires were locked for years. Then you and Damon with the help of Bonnie and her grandmother, got me out."

Stefan took that information in before jumping with another question, "How did I know you were in there?"

"Well, you didn't," She clarified, sighing, "Damon thought Katherine was there and he was going to get her out. Before realizing she is a liar and a manipulator who put me in there instead. But let's not dive into that—"

He interrupted, "I am sorry you went through that."

She paused, looking through his eyes. Those deep green eyes that she could get lost in forever. It was still Stefan, just not her Stefan. Not the one who knows her like the back of his hand. Not the one she would die and kill for.

"It's okay," She said, smiling up at him in reassurance, "I am okay, thanks to you."

Stefan smiled back before Elena cut in, "So, Stefan, how do you feel...about all this, right now?"

"I feel a bit hungry," He stated.

Charlotte frowned, turning to Damon, "You didn't give him the blood bag I packed with you?"

Stefan reached for her hand, almost instinctively, claiming, "No, no, he did. It's just that...there's this hunger despite the blood bag and everything. Can't I just drink from the vein?"

The Bernard girl paused, looking from Stefan's hand on hers to Angelina's face to Stefan's face finally, "Uh, well, normally, we would be like, why not? But since it's you and you are so inherently against anything that can affect humanity, much like me. Let's refrain from that, you know, I have another blood bag in the car. You can eat and we will get moving. Away from any human heartbeats that can trigger temptations."

"That's a great idea."

❃❃❃

Angelina, ever the blunt girl, told Damon and Elena that their presence was useless. This was strictly Charlotte and Stefan's times. She had full belief that if anyone could get him out of there, it would be none other than Charlotte Bernard, she knew him better than he knew himself.

So, the brunette dragged him all the way to their place. The place.

Charlotte sat on the ground in the middle of the grass and looked up at the confused Salvatore, watching the sights around him. "Where are we exactly?"

"This is our place. The one we used to meet in, back when we were human," She smiled, pointing over at one of the trees, "Over there, used to be a tree where we had our initials but I think they knocked that down."

She stood up to her feet, walking around a large rock. "Right here, I hid when we were playing hide-and-seek. You searched the entirety of these woods, but I was behind that rock all along."

"Oh, oh!" Charlotte jumped up with excitement, "Right here at this bench is where I confided in you when my sister got married and left the house. God, I was a wreck."

He smiled at her, shaking his head, "I don't understand, how do we have so much history yet none of it is in these days? Like modern times. We barely have any pictures together."

Charlotte sat down, "Well, I told you, I was in the tomb. I missed out on a lot."

"Yes, but you have been out for what 2 years?"

"We weren't together then," She sighed, "You were dating Elena—"

Stefan cut her off, "Isn't she dating Damon?"

"She is," The Bernard girl confirmed, "But before Damon there was you, and before that, you and Katherine...Elena's doppelganger...Let's not get into what a doppelganger is right now, they just look alike. She compelled you to fall in love with her in 1864."

"And did Elena do that...too? Now?"

"God, no," Charlotte rose to her feet, "You loved her of your own accord. I suppose...A couple of years back we were standing here when you told me that you loved her because she reminded you of me...which was a bit of a douchebag thing to say cause we weren't together then—" She cut herself off, shaking her head, "Hell, we are not even together now."

Stefan looked at her and it was as if he could see through her, "Charlotte?"

She took a deep breath, "Stefan?"

"I am getting the idea that you are in love with me?"

"Yes, I am. Since I first knew what love is."

"And I am in love with you?"

Charlotte's face softened at the question, "I hope...I guess. I mean you always say it and look it...so?"

He smiled down at her, caressing her cheek and Charlotte looked up, her hand instinctively on his chest. He leaned in for a kiss and Charlotte's lips landed on the side of his mouth, intentionally.

"I love you, Stefan, I do," She reassured, her hand resting on his cheek, "But I want to do this when you are you when you remember this...us."

"Until then we can be friends?" Charlotte suggested, still very much in his arms, and unrecovered from the near kiss.

"Friends?"

"Friends."

❃❃❃

Stefan and Charlotte were at Mystic Falls Cemetry now, where the party of the Remembrance Day was in full swing. Teenagers and college students were all hanging out, with a lot of liquor and loud music.

Stefan grabbed a bottle from a basket as Charlotte rolled her eyes, "Very discreet."

He nudged her, "If you want a sip, just say so."

"Nah, it would be smarter if I didn't. Someone has to take you home at the end of this."

"Charlotte, is that you?"

The brunette vampire turned around and smiled when she saw a dark-skinned man approach her, "Ted!" She reached over to pull him in a quick embrace.

"Hi, how are you doing?"

"How am I doing?" Ted laughed at her question, being the one to comfort her the last time she had a panic attack, "How are you doing? You look good."

Stefan's eyes were burning at Ted's hands which were still loosely on Charlotte's waist. Who was this guy? And why was he so unnecessarily close to Charlotte? And worst of all, why did it bother him so much?

Charlotte nodded, "Yeah, I am doing so much better," She pulled away and reached for Stefan's hand, "Stefan, this is Ted, my friend from college."

"I can hear your friend's heartbeat, Charlotte," Stefan said as the girl's eyes widened.

She turned to Ted quickly, "That's an exaggeration, he means to say you are so lively and energetic that he can literally hear your heartbeat but like no one can, right?"

Ted nodded, asking Stefan, "Hey, are you okay, dude? You don't look well."

Stefan's arm reached out, and he wrapped his hand around Ted's throat holding his body against a tree, "Stefan, what the hell? Let go of him!"

He looked into his eyes, compelling, "Leave, and go far away from here. Don't ever talk to her again, do you understand?"

"I understand," Ted repeated after him and Stefan let him go.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Charlotte grabbed his arm, "Stefan, stop! Whatever it is you are doing or thinking, stop it."

He scoffed out, "Is this why we are friends? I was gone all summer and you had free reign?"

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows together, "That's not Stefan talking. It's the Ripper, you are hungry and you are trying to push me away so you could eat through everyone here," She held on to his arm, pulling him away, "Well, guess what, tough luck."

"I don't need your ride home and I don't need your friendly advice, I will get by on my own," He said, attempting to pull his arm away from her hold.

"Stefan, grow up and keep walking."

❃❃❃

Charlotte had Stefan wait in the Salvatore crypt for her as she went to retrieve a blood bag from her car, she returned to see Caroline on the floor, helping a bleeding Jesse. The nice guy they met the first day.

"Oh, no, what happened?" She asked, running over to Caroline, "Stefan fed on him, didn't he?"

"Yes, how could you leave him unattended?" Caroline shook her head, biting into her wrist.

Charlotte sighed, "I had to find him blood and keep him away from students, this was as good as it could get, Care," She huffed out, pulling her phone, "Believe it or not, distracting a bloodthirsty vampire is difficult."

"He is not answering," Charlotte uttered, worry taking over her features, "I lost him. I lost him and he is not answering his phone."

She rose to her feet and Caroline spoke up, "Well, at least he is not hungry anymore."

The Bernard vampire ran a hand over her face before her phone rang in her hands, she looked at the screen and the hope vanished from her eyes when she saw Damon's name instead of Stefan.

"Hello?"

"Charlotte, I need you to get home, now."

"But Damon," She looked from Caroline to an unconscious Jesse, "I lost Stefan."

"Forget Stefan, drop everything and get here, now."

❃❃❃

Charlotte rushed back home, walking into the Salvatore Boarding House. She stopped when she saw Elena crying by the fireplace, and Serena glued to her position.

"What's...what's going on?"

Damon was the first to approach her, she looked up at him in confusion, "What happened? Is Jeremy okay?"

"He is with Matt, he is fine," He reassured and she could hear a loud sob leave Elena's body as he rested his hands on her shoulder, "I need you to be calm while I tell you this, Charlotte."

Charlotte huffed out, "Tell me what?" She turned to Elena, "Why are you crying?" The Gilbert girl was unresponsive as she addressed Serena, "Rena, what's going on?"

"Why are you guys like this?"

She tried to shake Damon's hands off, "Where is Bonnie? Did you call her?" Charlotte tried to pull his hands away, "Damon, what's going on? I don't understand."

"Bonnie is not coming."

"Because she is in DC with her mom, I know that."

Damon shook his head, "No, no, she is not in DC. She is not anywhere."

Her eyes widened, horrified at what his words could mean. No, Bonnie is somewhere. She must be. Bonnie Bennett had to be okay. She always was. Bonnie can't be hurt, Charlotte couldn't picture it. Bonnie was just a kid, she can't lose Bonnie, she just can't.

Charlotte ripped his hands off of her, stepping back, "No, no, she is with her mom. I will call her for you now. I will."

She pulled her phone out, dialing her number before Damon took the phone out of her hands and threw it across the room, "No, she will answer! Bonnie will answer!"

"She won't cause she is dead, Charlotte. Bonnie is dead."

"No, you just can't find her but she is alive, she has to be," Charlotte repeated more to herself than to Damon, "You know Bonnie, Damon, she can't be dead. She is stronger than this."

Serena spoke up from her spot, "Nature finds a balance, Charlotte. Jeremy wasn't supposed to come back," She held back a cry, "She died in his place."

The Bernard vampire shook her head, "No, no, no, all this time...All summer? She was dead all summer?"

Elena cried out at that and Charlotte kept repeating her words as Damon held her, "She is gone."

❃❃❃

Charlotte knew death well. She knew loss and pain. All of it, she had it down to the last bit, she was an expert. What Charlotte wasn't an expert on, is how repetitive it was. It was as if each new death was someone pressing restart on all her pains and they were endless.

She couldn't picture Mystic Falls with no Bonnie Bennett. It wasn't right. There shouldn't be a college experience without her, it's wrong.

What made her sick to her stomach is spending a summer trying to get over Stefan while Bonnie was dead since the day she left town and she had no clue, no freaking clue.

She fixed the ends of her dress, walking towards a stump of a tree, where Jeremy stood in his black suit and placed a picture frame on top of the tree's stump. Charlotte was followed by Damon, Elena, Caroline, Serena, and Matt.

Caroline approached the stump and placed black and red cheerleading pom poms on top. Matt, who was wearing a bandage around his cut hand, then places his lifeguard whistle on the stump. Following them, Elena scattered white feathers over the stump and all the other items, then she backed out crying while Caroline held her. 

Serena looked at the two before stepping forward and placing a doll Bonnie got her in her childhood. Consequently, Charlotte came up and left a folded picture of her and Bonnie. Finally, Damon placed Bonnie's grimoire on the stump. 

Charlotte stepped back, holding onto Serena's hand as Jeremy rang the bell, "We ring this bell in honor of Bonnie, in remembrance for her."

He rang the bell and placed it back on the stump, "I'm not sure what else to say."

Jeremy paused for a moment as if he was listening to someone before he started, "She says that she's not going anywhere, that she has been here all along. Bonnie has watched you have the summer of your life."

"And she saw you happy, and she knows you think that you can't have a normal life," He started, addressing his sister, "That you have to be there for everyone, but you don't. Everyone will find their way, so you are gonna repack your things, you're gonna go back to college, and you're gonna live it up."

He moved on to Matt, "You didn't do anything wrong, Matt. You know she would have sent you three hundred e-mails back if she could. She misses you."

"Serena," Jeremy began and Serena sobbed, holding on to Charlotte, "There are no amount of words that could ever say how proud she is of the person you were and the person you have become," The human Bernard shook her head, holding a lump in her throat, "She watched you grow into this woman who knows what she wants and nothing will change with her being gone. You will graduate college and you will find your way in life, 'cause you are better than you could ever know."

The Gilbert boy turned to Charlotte and she squeezed her eyes shut, "Charlotte, she doesn't blame you for anything that happened or has happened since you came here. No matter how hard she wanted to, she couldn't," She shook her, taking in a deep breath, "She loves you for who you are and how you are, never change. The world wouldn't know how to survive without a Charlotte Bernard saving the day. So save it and take care of us for her."

"Caroline...," He trailed off, "She watched you decorate that dorm room like your life depended on it," The blonde let out a small laugh, "And she knows that college isn't everything you expected and that you feel like something's missing, but...Tyler—"

They all turned around to spot Tyler walking in and holding a single white rose. He moved over to place it at the stump after taking Caroline into his arms.

The seven of them stood around the tree's stump and in front of Jeremy, taking in the moment and cherishing the life that Bonnie Bennett had.

❃❃❃

The brunette vampire walked into the Salvatore crypt, having a sickening feeling that she would find Stefan there, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling better," He started, from where he sat, "Which in my world means I haven't committed a homicide since I last saw you. I've been doing a lot of thinking today, a lot of wandering around, and this seemed like the most appropriate place to come."

Stefan looked up at her face and noticed something was off, "What's wrong?"

She took in a deep breath, "Bonnie...my friend, well, our friend. She is dead."

"The one that opened the tomb you were in?"

"And saved all of our lives more times than I can count," She added, taking a seat beside him, "I just can't accept it."

"Uh...What—what happened?"

Charlotte shook her head, "I...I don't want to talk about it, I really don't. I am so tired of crying. I can't."

"I'm sorry. I...I wish that I could remember her."

The Bernard vampire turned to him, "I wish you could, too. You would know what to say now...," She shrugged her shoulders, "Well, actually you wouldn't, no one would. But you would hold me."

"I can still do that, Charlotte," Stefan looked at her and her eyes watered at the thought, "C'mon," He opened his arms for her and she held on to him, crying out.

Sure Stefan doesn't remember her. But no matter what universe Charlotte was in, she couldn't mistake the look in Stefan's eyes when he was reassuring her or the safety she felt in his arms. Maybe he didn't remember her, yet, in some twisted way, his body and soul did. And maybe that was enough.

❃❃❃