MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

When the class was over, the girls gathered their things as Aella downed most of Caroline's water since she'd forgotten hers. As she pulled away, she shrugged at her best friend's, "It's so 17th century, why can't it be modernized?"

"With what?" Elena asked, amused.

Bonnie began popping her body, "A little body pop?"

Caroline nodded and then shook her head, "A little Britney hairography?"

"Or a little booty bounce?" Aella crouched and shook her butt to her friend's laughter.

The laughter only continued as they walked past Carol speaking with the next group of couples to learn the dance. She glared at the four girls as they exited, holding up her hand to her head, "I'm so exhausted with incompetent people. I don't know what to do anymore!"

Bonnie shook her head, "What was with that warm-up? Mrs. Lockwood isn't Jewish."

"And walk and walk, shoulders back and tuchus in, think about that double chin!" Aella sang as she speed-walked around the group.

"Gilmore Girls."

The girls were startled at Tyler's voice and turned to see him sitting on the picnic tables with his football. When they stared at him in confusion, he explained, "She saw it on Gilmore Girls at the weekend and wrote it down for 'inspiration." He finger quoted.

Elena nodded at him with a small smile, they weren't too sure how to act with Tyler following the weekend events, "Makes total sense now."

Tyler looked to Caroline, "How's Matt?"

"Umm.." Caroline's eyes widened; she didn't expect that from Tyler. She quickly nodded, "He's okay. He threw his mom out."

Tyler did a sharp nod at her answer, "Yeah, Jeremy told me."

"Give him time, Tyler," Elena told him after an awkward minute. "It's more confusion and hurt than anger, right now."

Tyler nodded and offered no more, Aella looked to the girls and nodded to Tyler, "I'll catch you up?"

The girls promptly nodded and headed to their cars as Aella walked over to the football player and sat next to him on the table. It was quiet for a few minutes as Tyler spun the ball through his hands. "It looks a lot better than Friday night."

Tyler looked up to her in confusion until Aella pointed at her eye, "Yeah." He felt around the green bruising. "Who knew Cauliflower Cheese sped up the healing process."

Aella chuckled and nudged his shoulder with hers, "We both know it wasn't the cauliflower cheese."

"Yeah," Tyler smirked at her. "It was your magic powers."

Aella shook her fingers, "You know it." Their chuckles faded out into the empty space until there was silence again. "Soooo... how was the weekend?"

Tyler only shrugged. It was still a sore subject, the mortification and embarrassment of Aella, Jeremy, and Matt knowing what his dad had done.

Aella's hands rested next to his, which hadn't stopped turning the ball. She wondered if she touched his hand again, would she see the unfamiliar eyes? Would she discover the owner of such fearing eyes? Would it create more questions?

"Aella!"

The two teens looked up at the call, and Aella's smile returned as she saw her boyfriend in his car pulled up in front of them.

Tyler's eyebrows rose, "New car, Salvatore?"

Stefan shook his head, "Family heirloom."

After letting out a whistle, Tyler stood up to examine the car; Aella took this to mean their conversation was over and ran over the passenger side of the car, dumping her things in the back seats.

Tyler leaned in Stefan's window to check the interior, "Think your family could adopt me?"

His tone was light, but both Stefan and Aella could hear the hesitation in his tone. Stefan tapped Tyler's hand, "Maybe I'll let you drive it one day." Aella let out an outraged scoff causing Stefan to laugh, "After Aella's turn, of course."

"Damn right," Aella muttered as Tyler stepped back.

The couple waved at Tyler, and he returned the gesture as Stefan pulled away. It was quiet for a moment until Stefan took one of Aella's hands resting on her knees, "How was dance practice?"

He let out a chuckle when Aella's head fell back with a groan, "Hell on Earth... how the hell did you do that at every party?"

"Much, much, MUCH, practice," Stefan admitted. He listened on with amusement as Aella explained the trouble she caused and how now she knew, without doubt, Carol Lockwood hated her rather than disliked her...

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

"'Isobel and I share a mutual interest,' he really said that?" Elena questioned with disgust.

The best friends minus Bonnie, who refused to attend, and the Salvatore brothers sat in the Study of the Boarding House taking in the numerous conversations Damon and John had had during the week.

"Uncle Buck, he is not!" Damon shrugged, sitting next to the doppelgänger. "He also confessed he and Isobel are working together to get rid of vampires."

Caroline frowned, "But she's a vampire, isn't she?"

"So, she's trying to get rid of herself?" Aella scoffed. She turned to Elena, "I'm sorry, E, but your birth mom is an idiot."

Stefan snorted, "Well, she did ask my brother to turn him."

Damon fake laughed the jibe of as he moved forward to sit on the edge of the couch, "John revealed a lot. It's obvious he needs us to get him this device thing, so he can't turn us in."

Elena turned to Aella and Stefan, who had been researching all week, "Anything?"

The couple shared a glance that had Damon raising a brow, "You found something?"

Aella nodded and moved from Stefan's arm so she could move forward and reach for Emily's Grimoire on the table in front of them. With a flick of her wrist, the book opened up to the page she wanted. With another flick it turned to face Elena and Damon, Caroline leaned over the back of the seat to see over them.

"Surprise, surprise, Johnathan Gilbert was a hack," Aella glowered as she waved at the book. "According to Emily, Johnathan never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic; compass, rings, and the mystery device."

Damon pointed at the drawing in the book, "Is this it?"

Stefan shook his head, "We don't know, it has two parts to it..."

Caroline stood up, "Like the compass?"

Aella nodded at her, "Exactly, but this is a little different, that'll have much more of an effect than the compass did."

"You mean more than a live vampire detector?" Damon doubted with a heavy brow.

"How about a weapon?" Aella offered. She leaned forward and pointed to the box drawn on the old page as she met gazes with Damon, "This device doesn't just detect, Damon. It incapacitates, it exposes."

Elena glanced between the two vampires, Damon now more solemn, "Do you know what it actually does."

Stefan's brows furrowed, "It doesn't say anything else."

"But this could be in our favor," Aella admitted, and when they all - bar Stefan - looked to her in disbelief, she held her hands up. "Just listen, it's Bennett magic; therefore, it can be undone..." She turned to Damon, "If you can get me that device, I can turn it off. It's such a simple spell, even Bonnie or Grams could do it."

Damon nodded at the plan as Stefan turned to his brother, "Did John say anything more?"

"Apart from knowing Isobel and the device, not much else, well..." Damon told them, but when he trailed off, Aella waved her hands for him to continue. "... it's just something he said about Pearl, and I thought at the time it was because of what he said I knew he couldn't have been working with Katherine... but now..."

"Now, you're thinking he was playing you?" Stefan summarised for his brother that had Damon nodding.

Damon squinted, remembering the conversation, "Something just wasn't... right."

"We always knew this could be a possibility," Aella admitted to him. "We just have to be extra cautious around John. If he is or isn't working with Katherine, we know he is working with Isobel, and that's all the 'presumed dead' figures we need right now."

"Sooooo, meeting adjourned?" Caroline questioned, and when she nodded, she clapped and pulled Stefan off the couch, "Let's go, Stefan, you have to teach Matt the moves for Sunday."

Aella fell back onto the couch with a laugh until Stefan pulled her up with him, "Don't even think about it!"

Elena laughed as Caroline dragged Stefan, and Stefan pulled Aella out of the house; the couple was not excited. When Elena remained seated, Damon looked to her with his brow raised, "Didn't you come with them?"

"No, I drove myself," Elena responded. She turned to the vampire and took a deep breath, Damon could hear her heart beating faster, "I wanted to ask you something?"

"Ask away, Sunshine," Damon quipped, turning to face her too.

"Would you..."

Damon playfully leaned in close as she stuttered out her question, "Would I?"

Elena pushed him away with a poorly concealed smile. She took one final deep breath and then finally asked, "Would you be my escort to the Miss Mystic Falls competition?"

Damon tried everything to not immediately say yes, and act aloof. He held up his hand to his chest in surprise, "Who, me?"

Elena glared at him, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Yes or no, Damon."

Damon dropped all playfulness and looked into Elena's eyes. He softly replied, "Yes, I would be honored to be your escort."

Elena could only smile back softly.

FOUNDERS HALL

Aella ran into the room, holding up the numerous dress bags as far above her head as possible so they wouldn't drag on the floor, "I'm here, I'm late, I am very sorry!!"

Caroline's frown reflected through the mirror, "I thought you were coming with Elena?"

"I was... "Aella admitted hanging up the dresses, "...then Stefan's calls that Damon is also attending for some reason, and then everything went wrong!"

"Why the hell is Damon here?" Jenna frowned, dabbing the foundation on Elena's skin.

Elena raised her hand, shyly, "That would be my fault, he's my escort."

Caroline turned on her seat sharply and looked at her with eyes wide and mouth open, just like Aella and Jenna. The blonde blinked furiously, "I'm sorry, did you say Damon was your escort?"

When Elena nodded, Aella playfully smirked at her, "Go, Elena. You kept that quiet."

Elena closed her eyes as Jenna returned to dabbing at her skin. "I wonder why," she grumbled, following their reactions.

Jenna shrugged, "As long as he's with you for you, and not because your Katherine's double, I can deal with that."

"Amen, Aunt Jenna!" Aella exclaimed as she skipped over to Caroline's station, only to exclaim again as she saw the mess, "Oh my Lanta! Whose makeup are you doing, RuPauls!?"

Caroline tutted and jumped out of her seat, pushing Aella into it, "Shut up and close your eyes for the next twenty minutes."

"Can you get her mouth to do the same?" Jenna laughed while Aella pouted.

"When I wake up in the morning
And the alarm gives out a warning
I don't think I'll ever make it on time
By the time I grab my books
And I give myself a look
I'm at the corner just in time to see the bus fly by
It's alright 'cause I'm saved by the bell".

"Ha! Saved by the Bell... literally." Aella jumped up at her phone ringing and laughed at Caroline before answering it, "Hey, Baby J."

"Johnathan Gilbert had more than one journal..."

Aella eyes widened, "What? How?"

She held up her hand to the girls who had returned to their makeup as she ran down the stairs to where all the guests were gathering. She saw Stefan at the bar and whispered his name, thankfully with his supernatural hearing he was able to hear her far across the room. When their eyes met, she waved him over. As he reached her, she pulled him back through the growing crowd and up the stairs into a spare room.

Stefan's brow raised when they stopped, Aella covered the phone's microphone as Jeremy continued, "John just told Jeremy that Johnathan Gilbert had lots of diaries and he's read all of them." She moved her hand away and spoke to Jeremy, "I'm putting you on Speaker, J, it's Stefan and me."

"Uncle John has not left me this entire time, I think he's trying to suss out if I know."

"Well, keep on being confused," Stefan advised. "He may think we've kept you in the dark, Jenna too."

"But don't be too curious if he stops talking," Aella added.

"He saw Anna staring at me, but I think she'd noticed who he was before she could wave or come over," Jeremy admitted.

"Stay away from her," Stefan told the teenager. "John knows a lot about us and this town. If you are all buddy with Anna, he may realize you know."

"He won't do anything, though, will he?" Jeremy questioned nervously.

Aella and Stefan shared doubtful looks, "To you, no." Stefan told him straightly, "But we don't know what he'd do to Anna. He knows her and Pearl have the device but he's stayed back getting Damon to do his dirty work, if he sees Anna around his nephew, it could change something."

"Just be careful, Jeremy," Aella cautioned, and at saying his full name, Jeremy knew not to object. "Keep with Jenna and Ric if things get uncomfortable."

Jeremy agreed and hung up, Aella looked up to Stefan biting her lip, "I don't like this, he knows so much about us, but we're only skimming the surface on him."

Stefan pulled her close and pecked her forehead as she held onto his waist tight, "He seems to be getting comfortable enough that he's letting out information that could be in our favor."

Aella nodded against his chest, "Can you stay close to us, in case anything else happens?"

Stefan squeezed her again, "Absolutely. And I'll text Damon to keep an eye on John around Jeremy."

After the separated Aella returned to the girls just as Jenna asked, "So where's Bonnie? I thought she'd be up here with you all."

Elena, not knowing Aella had returned due to Jenna making up her eyes, shrugged lightly, "She's really struggling with what's going on."

Caroline scoffed, "What she means is that Bonnie is jealous that Aella's had her powers all her life and is a badass. While Bonnie wants to be just as powerful and only do half the work. She's taking it all out on Aella!"

Aella stopped herself entering the room, she wanted to hear everyone else's opinions on her and Bonnie. She knew Caroline would back her with everything she had, as she would in return. Still, Bonnie and Elena had the same type of relationship.

When Elena didn't fight on Caroline's sharp tone, Jenna was surprised, as was Aella, "Elena?"

Elena pulled back from Jenna to look up at her, "Caroline's not wrong, Bonnie hasn't been the Bonnie we've all grown up with. She's taking a lot out on Aella for her magic, but also us for the supernatural... she's not as open to it as we are."

Aella could see how hard this was for Elena and jumped into the room with a broad smile, "I'm back!! Did you miss your little ray of sunshine?"

Caroline just grabbed her and pulled her back to the bench, "Yeah, we missed you. Now sit down and shut up so I can do your makeup."

Aella smirked at her best friend, "I love it when you get physical."

Caroline cuffed her around the head, playfully, "Just shut up!"

.................................................
.................................................

Aella fixed her dress that had been deemed audience proof by Caroline. The knee-length dress was the total opposite of what the Miss Mystic Falls contestants were wearing. Jenna had left them to join the rest of their group after she had completed Elena's hair. After double-checking with Caroline that the blonde looked amazing, Caroline took a deep breath and nodded that it was okay for Aella to leave.

She had just started making her way down the stairs where Stefan still stood, their eyes met, and she couldn't help but smile shy as he looked her up and down proudly.

He held out a hand as she reached the bottom and pulled her into a soft kiss, "You look beautiful."

Aella kissed him again, "Thank you."

Stefan held out his arm to escort Aella outside when her phone rang, she pulled her cell out and frowned at the name flashing on the screen. She felt nauseous when she realized what this meant as she showed Stefan the name flashing, "Oh, oh."

Stefan watched her answer and listened in on the call as Aella nodded sadly. When she hung up, she opened her mouth to ask Stefan for his opinion when she saw Mayor Lockwood and his secretary walking past.

"I need the cards in order of the girls, Felicity. Have the cards ready on the podium, I'm going to get water."

When Aella looked back at Stefan, mischief on her face, he knew she had a plan, and he knew he'd be a part of it. With a sigh, he simply asked, "What do you need me to do?"

......................
......................
......................
A/N: Hello all! Sorry for the weeks delay, I was down most of the previous week with the worst migraine and could hardly move, let alone write, edit and post. Thank you all for the lovely messages of get well. If I don't happen to post and there is nothing on my Wattpad page then always check out my Instagram as that is always up to date.

I've been so excited to post these next few chapters as they're SO different from the actual episode. The next chapter is one of my absolute favourite and only Aella could get away with what she has planned.

As always, I love to hear your thoughts:
🔹 Favorite moment of this chapter?
🔹 Favorite quote of the chapter?
🔹Favorite AU change of the chapter?
🔹 Aella's 'plan'?
🔹 Predictions for future chapters?
I hope you are all well and enjoyed the chapter. Xoxo
Please follow my Instagram: