CHAPTER 27: DADDY ISSUES

The Gilbert House

As soon as Natalie decided that she couldn't bear to look at John's face anymore she walked off to the room that Elena, Jeremy and Jenna decided that she could have for when she slept over (which was incredibly much) then Stefan told Elena all about John and his Return. To say she was displeased was a huge understatement. And to say that Natalie wanted to punch him was also an understatement. She really wanted to punch him. And she was extremely annoyed by seeing him in the Kitchen the next morning.

"Morning." he greeted her cheerfully as she walked into the kitchen, Elena following.

"What are you doing here?" Elena went straight to the point.

John ignored his eldest daughters remark and held a cup of coffee out to them both. "Coffee."

"If you think we're still ignoring the problem that is... well, you, then you're wrong." Natalie raised an eyebrow at him angrily.

"Why are you here?" Elena asked once again.

"I'm here to protect you. Both of you." John said, his facade fading.

"Why do I need protecting? I'm not Klaus's target." Natalie asked her biological father.

"Even if you're not his target, Elena is. And who is better to og after to make her follow his commands then her twin sister." John explained. "That's all I can say for the moment."

Elena's eyes widened at his last statement. "What do you mean that's all you can say?"

"I'll tell you more when I'm convinced I can trust you."

And as that was said, they heard giggles of a couple who ran into the kitchen lovingly.

"Gross." Natalie muttered.

"Oh God, I'm late." Jenna complained to Alaric.

Alaric chuckled as he looked at his girlfriend lovingly. "That's what you get for hitting the snooze three times!"

And then Jenna turned around to face her niece and kind-of-niece. And also seeing John there who was standing by them. "What the hell?"

"Good morning to you, Jenna. Alaric..." John greeted with a smirk.

"It's okay I'm confused, right? Because we were not expecting you, like, ever." Jenna spat, a loathesome glare gracing her expression.

"Well, I got in late last night. Natalie let me in." John shrugged.

Alaric looked at his daughter's biological father awkwardly. "You know, I'm uh, probably just gonna take off."

Natalie's eyes widened at his words. "Take me with you! Please!" she called out desperately, getting no response. "What kind of father are you?!" she yelled after him, ignoring the wincing that suddenly appeared on John's face after hearing her calling another man her father.

"I'm still confused here." Jenna reminded them, having seen John's wince, and his return.

"I decided to come back and stay for a while." John said, ignoring the question that Jenna was really asking.

Jenna looked amused for a moment before realizing that he was, in fact, completely serious. "Not here, you're not."

"Actually, you can't stop me from living here." John said.

Natalie's eyes widened in realization of what he was going to say. "Oh no."

"Actually I can, as legal guardian." Jenna retorted, only for Natalie to cough, Jenna rolling her eyes at the teenager's behavior. "Of Elena and Jeremy." she corrected herself.

"Yeah, about that...um, Elena, Natalie, you want me to explain the situation, or would either of you like to do the honors?" John asked his daughers.

"If you don't shut your face, I'll shut it for you." Natalie hissed at him.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"I'm Elena and Natalie's biological father. There, now you know." John revealed before simply walking away.

"What?" Jenna exclaimed, her eyes darting between Elena and Natalie.

Natalie looked awkward for a few moments before spreading her arms. "Surprise!"

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As soon as the news of John Gilbert being back in town reached Damon Salvatore's ears he rushed to the Gilbert house, ready to do some not-so-friendly things to the human man. But he wasn't home anymore so the only ones in the house was Natalie and Elena.

"Where's John?" he asked as he stormed in.

"He left. He actually left. He decided that it was time to announce the declaration of paternity to Jenna." Natalie rolled her eyes as the previous conversation that they had.

"That's public knowledge now?" Damon asked her incredulously.

"Apparently." Elena broke in.

Damon turned to the girl he was in love with, his Expression softening. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Jenna's head spinning, but I'm okay." Elena responded nonchalantly.

"He said what he was doing here?"

"Kind of, if you count lying, seeing as he keeps saying that he's here to protect his precious daughters which is all crap. But somehow it's crap that Stefan believes in." Natalie sighed.

"Do you believe him?" Damon asked, ignoring the obviousness of what the answer would be.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" Natalie frowned at him.

"No, I don't believe him for a second." Elena answered, ignoring her sister's sarcasm.

"Me neither." Damon agreed.

"What do you suppose we do with him?" Natalie asked, ignoring every fiber of her being which told her that even if she hates him for trying to kill Stefan and Damon, he was still her father and after she thought she lost her mother she thought that all she had left was Alaric. But when she came to Mystic Falls she got so many more People that she cared about. Meaning that she got so much more to lose, and the last thing she needed was to add John to that list. But, somehow, he snuck in there with the revelation that he was her father.

"Kill him." Damon responded simply, making Natalie Close her eyes in judgement. But not for the killing thing, she understood that, I mean he's John, but killing the biological father of the girl he was in love with... not a good idea. He ruined it enough when he killed Natalie. Going after John wasn't really the smartest thing.

And as he turned to leave, the twins might even think that he was serious. Which he secretly was.

"Damon..." Elena trailed off in disappointment.

"I'm joking," Damon dismissed her disappointment. Only to see Natalie's disbelieving look. "Okay, I'm a little serious."

"Damon!" Elena scolded.

"He knows his name, Elena." Natalie whispered to herself, the girl in question not hearing it, as opposed to Damon who looked ta her in amusement.

"I'm not gonna hurt him, Elena. I'm the good guy now, remember?" Damon said, almost snorting at the thought.

"How come I don't believe you?" Natalie tilted her head as she tapped her chin sarcastically.

"I'm gonna have a civil conversation with your father." Damon lied.

"And I don't trust you, so I'm going too." Natalie smirked quiclkly as she grabbed her jacket.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Elena called out desperately.

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The Mystic Grill

Damon quickly tracked John's presence to the Mystic Grill. And he reluctantly brought Natalie and Elena with him. Not so much reluctant about bringing Natalie, but he didn't want Elena to go around acting like just because he was in love with her that she could make him do whatever she wants. And when the trio finally spotted John (who was sitting with Alaric and Jenna), he was ready to storm over and confront him about his return.

But Elena being Elena was of course going to be scolding Damon in case he'd do something wrong. "We just need answers. Please don't do anything stupid."

Damon groaned playfully. "Yeah, but stupid is so much more fun."

"Damon, I mean it. All I'm asking is you try to keep it together. Be the better man." Elena said sternly, forgetting that it might hurt him if she acts like he's a Stefan replacement.

And Damon had an internal struggle over just that. If he was going to listen to Elena because she wanted to help him because he was him or if the only reason she was saying this was because Stefan wasn't here to do it instead. Finally, the lovesick part of him won. "Okay then."

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After Damon and John having a little 'friendly' conversation Elena had gotten a call from Stefan with disturbing news. The most disturbing thing might be what Natalie was about to do when she heard. You can do a lot to her and not break her. You can hurt her with words, weapons or any 'w'-words you might find, but if you hurt someone Natalie cared about. If you're not out of town you're dead in 0.01 seconds.

"Bitch is dead." Natalie said, glaring at the wall as the news of Jules kidnapping and torturing Caroline Forbes reached her.

"And why am I just finding out about this now?" Damon asked Elena.

"Stefan was worried that you-" "That I'll what? That I'd kill him? Of course, it's what's need to happen." Damon cut Elena's sentence short.

Natalie glared at Damon the second the suggestion met her ears. "Do not hurt Tyler. Caroline is going to be saved and all. But we are not hurting Tyler."

"Why? He's a werewolf, he needs to die. I'm willing to kill him, it's win-win." Damon spat at the huntress.

Natalie looked at Elena with pleading eyes, although hating the way that Elena used Damon most of the time, she was desperate for a way to keep Damon from hurting Tyler, who had kind of become her friend and had definetly been through enough lately.

And, luckily, Elena understood the look, putting her hand on his arm softly. "Damon please, okay? Too many people are dead."

Damon wasn't affected by her actions this time though, instead, his face morphed into a scowl. "You need to stop doing that."

Elena frowned in false confusion as she removed her arm from his. "Doing what?"

Damon didn't back down even though she removed her touch. "Assuming that I'll play the good guy because it's you who's asking."

But Elena didn't back down because of Damon's annoyance. "Be the better man, Damon."

But then another person (beside the awkward Natalie) walked into the moment. It was, of course, the person they least wanted there.

"You. Out. Preferably of town, but I'm okay with the room for now." Natalie glared at John as he walked in.

"What's going on?" the blonde man asked, ignoring Natalie's statement.

"Nothing." Elena dismissed, wanting him as far away as possible.

"It doesn't look like nothing." John retorted.

"Guess what, trust works both ways, now get out." Natalie spat at John angrily, her worry for Caroline growing large amounts by the millisecond.

"Look, we don't have time for this. We need to get Caroline back." Elena broke in, also worried for the blonde.

"We don't need to do anything. I'll take care of it." Damon corrected the doppelganger harshly.

"Don't you-" "First dad duty: ground your daughters. Keep them here." Damon cut Natalie off, turning to John.

"I'm coming with you." Natalie said sternly.

But Damon was already gone and John was blocking her way. No, no, no, no, no. I'm with Damon on this one. You're not going anywhere. Just tell me what's going on."

But Natalie wasn't about to give in that easily. "I know that you think that you can boss me around. But no one can stop me from saving my best friend, especially not you. You probably think that because your blood runs in my veins that you can control me. But get this through your head. You are not my father and I will never be your daughter."

And with that, Natalie got out of his grip and ran, off to save her best friend.

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Woods

Luckily, Natalie drove to the Mystic Grill, meaning that she had a trunk full of weapons at her disposal, but she chose to bring her favorite one. Her bow and a quiver of arrows. And after Stefan and Damon were both in the Woods, Stefan quickly saw the Petrova/Gilbert/Saltzman/Flemming girl.

"You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be here just to help us." Stefan told Natalie, his signature frown on his face.

"You might think that the reason why I'm here is to help you. But guess what, I'm done being a push over, you guys are basically keeping me safe just so you can use me when you need it. But I'm not here to help you. I'm here to save my best friend." Natalie spat.

"Natalie, we aren't just keeping you safe to use you. We're keeping you safe because we care about you." Stefan retorted.

"If you really care about me then you should let me have the safety of knowing whether or not my best friend will be safe. Because you two will never be able to do it alone." Natalie said, gripping her bow tightly as she adjusted the quiver that was slung over her back.

▹▹▹

Soon, Stefan had no choice but to let Natalie come with as he was honestly feeling sympathetic towards her, knowing that if there was some way that he could know if he would see Lexi again, he would take it. And then they were out in the shadows. But Jules was a werewolf. And nothing could escape those keen werewolf senses.

"I know you're out there." Jules called out.

And Stefan and Natalie stepped forth, now the vampire was holding Tyler in his grip, something Natalie was very unhappy about.

"Where's Caroline?" Natalie asked, her chin held high as she tried to keep from showing any weakness.

"Locked up tight, hunter." Jules spat, revealing her knowledge of Natalie and what she did, which may have been obvious with Natalie holding a bow.

"Let her go, and I'll release Tyler. It doesn't have to get any messier than it already has," Stefan said, but seeing Jules's loathsome look. "I'm not your enemy, Jules."

"It's a little late to be waving the white flag, don't you think?" Jules asked rhetorically.

"Leave town and no one gets hurt." Natalie kind of threatened.

"I'm not leaving without Tyler."

Stefan wasn't backing down however. "Tyler is free to make his own decisions, as soon as you release Caroline."

My brother the peacemaker," Damon's voice rang out and all eyes turned to him. "Since Stefan got here before me I'm gonna let him try it his way before I resort to my way, which is a little bloodier, which I'm sure Natalie would agree with," Natalie tilted her head in agreement. "So give us Caroline."

"Let go of Tyler."

"Give us Caroline." Damon repeated. "Without a full moon it's not an even fight and you know it. We will take you."

"I'm not so sure about that, tough guy." Jules retorted, and at their que, the rest of the pack walked into sight, all of them holding weapons ranging from crossbows to stakes to even a flamethrower.

Natalie pulled her bowstring back (with an arrow) and aimed at one of the werewolves, before switching who she was aiming for. She was a good archer but she wasn't able to shoot all of them at the same time.

"Let's try this again. Give us Tyler." Jules smirked.

Damon suddenly wasn't feeling so courageous and looked over at newest triggered werewolf in the area. "You heard her. Go. Get over there."

Tyler hesitantaly walked over to Jules, his gaze locking with Natalie for just a moment and hers became much guiltier as a result and so did his, because he really cared about Caroline, and this was all his fault.

"Which one of you killed Mason?" a werewolf named Brady asked the vampire brothers and Natalie.

"Uh, that'd be me." Damon raised his hand falsely sheepish.

"Boys, make sure that one suffers."

"We can take them." Damon said, trying to lift Stefan and Natalie's spirits.

"I don't know about that." Stefan disagreed.

"That's the spirit, Stefan." Natalie said, before Damon sped after Jules and Natalie released her first arrow in a while.

And then a werewolf grabbed her from behind, using his supernaturally enhanced strength but Natalie wasn't about to get killed so easily and she grabbed an arrow from her quiver and stabbed the werewolf in the face.

As soon as that werewolf fell Natalie grabbed another arrow, aiming it at a werewolf who was fighting with Stefan, and he fell, dead. Stefan looked at Natalie gratefully for a moment before running off to fight another werewolf.

And that's when another werewolf came at her, this time from the front. But, luckily, she decided that she should bring one of her daggers, so she let her bow fall to the ground as she grabbed the dagger, slicing him up in the front before dodging his attack at her, unfortunately getting an arrow shot from another werewolf's crossbow in his arm, and Natalie sliced his back up before kicking him on the ground.

Then another arrow flew at her. But this one was thrown so it wouldn't hit her, and it was thrown by Stefan who grabbed it after he was shot at himself and thought that Natalie might like having more arrows to shoot. She grabbed it and her bow and shot a werewolf in the behind (you know) before doing a risky thing and grabbing two arrows at the same time, pulling the bowstring back and shot it at two werewolves who were fighting with Damon.

And as Natalie noticed Caroline with bloodstained and ragged clothes on being held by gunpoint by Jules, Natalie was about to shoot the female werewolf but then every werewolf (except Tyler) fell to the ground, holding their heads in pain as it felt like a thousand needles were penetrating their brains, slowly and painfully.

"What's happening?" Caroline asked, her voice breaking.

"What the hell is going on?" Tyler questioned in the same fashion.

And that's when they saw a witch named Jonas Martin walked towards them, holding his hands up as he helped uphold the deal he had with Elijah by helping Elijah hold up his end of the bargain with Elena. "Elijah made a promise to Elena. I'm here to see it's upheld. You need to go. Get out of here. Now."

And as Natalie was just staring at the warlock in awe, Stefan and Damon walked up by her, grabbing each of her arms, dragging her with them.

But, for once, she didn't let them.

She ripped her arms from their grip and walked by herself.

She was herself.

▹▹▹

The Forbes House

As Caroline would only trust one person to bring her home safely without scolding her about the dangers of trusting werewolves, Stefan and Damon let Natalie walk Caroline home, something the blonde was grateful for, knowing that if there was someone who knew what she was going through, it was Natalie. She knew how it was when she was tortured because of someone else's mistakes. And Natalie was probably the most compassionate person there was in these types of situations and that was one of the reasons Caroline wouldn't trade Natalie for anyone in the world.

"Is your mom home?" Natalie asked, not wanting Caroline to be alone, even if Liz Forbes knew nothing of what happened.

"No, she's at work." Caroline responded.

"I can stay here tonight if you want to. So you're not alone." Natalie offered, her lips tugging up in a small yet understanding smile.

"I'm fine, Natalie." Caroline dismissed her worries.

"You don't have to pretend with me. You're my best friend and I will be there for you." Natalie said, and Caroline just realized how happy she was that Natalie was there instead of Elena or Bonnie. Natalie found a way to make her feel loved and happy, Bonnie found a way to make her feel slightly dumb and Elena found a way to make it all about herself.

"I'm okay. I'm not girly little Caroline anymore. I can handle myself." Caroline said making Natalie realize the similarities between the two for the first time as she said the last part of her statement.

"I know you can."

"I just really want to go shower so..." Caroline trailed off sadly.

"Goodnight, Care. I'll see you later."

"Goodnight, Nat."

▹▹▹

The Gilbert House

After Natalie returned to the Gilbert house, her father probably staying the night once again, she walked into her own room that she got from the Gilberts.

But once she got there, she found that there was already someone there waiting for her.

John.

"What are you doing here?" Natalie shook her head at him as she leaned against the doorframe.

"I just talked to Elena, and I realized that I've never had a real conversation with you. Alone." John explained as he stood up, looking at his daughter lovingly.

"What is it you want to say?" Natalie asked, really wanting to get that day over with.

"I'm sorry. For everything. For being such a jerk. For letting Isobel take you away when you were little. But I'm actually kind of happy that she took you away. Because you've grown into such an amazing young woman. And you've come a long way from when you had your tiny hand wrapped around my hand. And none of that would have happened if I was there and helped raise you. Like Elena. You guys are so different, and in a lot of ways you're better. Stronger, fearless, powerful. And I don't think that would have happened if I was there with you. And I know that I have no right to walk into your life. But you are my daughter, my flesh and blood. Just as much as you are Isobel's, even though you try to forget. But everytime that I look at you I see her. Not because you guys look a like, which you also do, but because you remind me of her. There was a reason why I was in love with her for years. The Petrova fire, I've heard. And you've inherited it. But even though I am your father I know that Alaric is your dad. But if you'll let me then I'll at least try to be here for you like I was for Elena."

John didn't notice until after his speech that Natalie was teary eyed. She expected some jerkish speech, not a heartwarming one that reminded her of everything she tried to suppress and a few tears went down her cheek, a nod barely notciable, a smile gracing John's face at the response.

They would try.

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The Forbes House

Even though Caroline thought that she had Natalie completely fooled by her behavior earlier, she underestimated how much Natalie knew her. And she realized that she was busted when she opened the door and saw Natalie holding a bag.

"Hey." Caroline greeted.

"Hey." Natalie responded. "I know that you're fine or whatever you want to call it, but I don't believe you because you're not going to get over it so quickly. But it'll be easier with others who love you, so I brought back-up."

Caroline frowned in confusion before Bonnie and Elena showed up with bags similar to Natalie's and realized exactly what was going on.

"We're gonna slumber it!" Elena exclaimed happily, voicing Caroline's thoughts.

"We haven't done it in ages." Bonnie smiled sadly at her.

"And this is your first time with me." Natalie added.

But when they saw the tears welling up in her eyes they all knew what they needed, and together, the four best friends wrapped their arms around each other, each of them not only embracing one another but also the fact that they were all still there with each other.

She was okay. They were okay. Everything would be okay.

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A/N: Oh, extra long chapter for you guys and I'm really happy with it (except for the fight scene but I suck at those but oh, well) but if you guys were wondering why I wasn't updating as quickly as with the other chapters it was because this one was probably the second longest chapter that I've written.

And the comment system was being stupid last chapter so I wasn't really able to reply to your comments but... Yeah.

Votes and comments are greatly appreaciated.