CHAPTER 58: THE DEPARTED

The Gilbert House

After the very cheerful victory party at the Gilbert house, Jeremy and Elena had a little talk but that wasn't important. What was important was that Elena collapsed and Jeremy brought her to the hospital. You may wonder where Natalie was when all of that was going on. Sleeping, of course. But she was quick to join Matt, Tyler and Jeremy and pick her up from the hospital and freak out over the fact that something happened to her sister and even if it wasn't that bad, she could have been worse and died and that was something she couldn't handle. So, smothering galore.

"So, do you want anything at all? Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate?" she leaned in a little closer to her and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Vodka?" She saw the blank stare her sister was giving her, and understood that she was probably super annoying at that moment. "And I'm being smothering. Sorry, I just don't know what I would have done if it'd been worse and I'd lost you. Maybe you don't this but I might have slight issues with loss. So, I'm being annoying, sorry."

"No, it's- it's nice." the doppelganger shook her head, assuring her that she was being really amazing and she didn't have anything against the affection.

Natalie smiled at slightly as she grabbed her hand. "I know that we've been going through a rough patch and we have our fair share of differences but you're my sister and I just, I wanted you to know-"

Elena cut her off, knowing exactly was she was about to say but wasn't sure if she was supposed to say it with them not having grown up together and having know each other for little over a year. But she loved her too. "I know, Natalie. Me too."

Natalie smiled her first really cheerful smile since she lost her father, making Elena join the smile fest.

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The Mystic Grill

Natalie had sent herself on a mission to gather food for her sister, who refused to let her go get it for her, but Natalie was really trying to be a better sister and getting her something to eat would be a good first step. She got the food that one of the waiters had gotten for her after mentioning being Jeremy's sister and Matt's friend, and they were always open to help one of their own.

She sent him a smile and was about to leave when a very familiar voice that made her want to cry and scream and fall apart spoke up from behind her. "We need to talk." Alaric spoke, and grabbed her shoulder and pulled her down into her seat as he sat down next to her. "I need you to tell me where they're keeping Klaus' body."

"Why would I know? Better question, why would I tell you?" she spat, trying to convince herself that it wasn't her father, and it wasn't her fault that it wasn't. She flashed back to that dream for a moment, the dream she had when Bonnie stopped her heart. And she could almost feel the wet fabric of the bloody shirt he wore, which was worsened by the tears falling from her eyes. She shook it off as she met his calculating eyes.

He tried to hit a little closer to home, knowing her better than anyone and every insecurity he had noticed with her was so easy to manipulate. "Elena's association with vampires nearly got her killed again tonight, Natalie, and you could easily be next. Does that even register with you? You two can't seem to cut them out of your lives, but I can. And with your help, I'll get rid of all of them. Find out where Klaus' body is being hidden, I'll kill him, all his siblings, and when I die, vampires will no longer exist. And if you find whatever way to stop me, then you'll all end up dead and it'll be all your fault. But you won't be able to. I'm gonna get Klaus either way, Nat. Be on the right side of this. Or maybe even the non-vampires you care about will be dead because of you."

She stared blankly at him as he got up and left. Maybe even the non-vampires you care about will be dead because of you. She could get more people killed and it'd be her fault.

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The Gilbert House

She had easily decided what to do, and she got all the information she needed from Damon and Stefan without even trying. They just told whatever she could be able to tell Alaric. And it would be that easy. "Damon's on his way to bury him in the woods off Route 12. I'll text you with the specifics." she said as she didn't even try to sound even remotely nice. Why would she?

She could almost feel the smirk through the phone because of him being able to manipulate her so easily. Perks of raising for 15 years, since she was three. "Thank you, Natalie. You're doing the right thing for yourself and the people you care about."

"Just get on with it," she sighed, hanging up as she sighed heavily before meeting the eyes of everyone else in the room. Stefan, Elena, Matt and even Elijah was there. Her the corner of her lips tugged upwards in a smirk. "He bought it."

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Natalie sat on her bed, her thoughts rushing through her mind in a way that as usual just made her want to sit down and cry but she couldn't just go around and cry about everything. She had things to do, and those things were important. Her, Jeremy and Stefan were supposed to go to the woods and meet Elijah and Caroline so they take down Alaric once and for all.

One of them (that wasn't Natalie, of course) walked into her room, standing at the edge of her door, not quite inside, just in case she didn't want him there. "Knock, knock."

She pulled herself up and turned around abruptly but relaxed as she saw the familiar forest green eyes, and slightly above it a familiar frown underneath the best hero hair she had even seen (she so needed his hairdresser). "Hi."

He walked closer to her, standing right in front of her as he rubbed her arm in comfort, knowing that it had to be at least slightly hard to lie to Alaric. "Hey. Are you ready to go?"

She shrugged, giving him another fake smiled as she was ready to lie so much about how she was feeling. "Yeah, almost. I just needed some alone-time."

He saw through the happy facade she was putting up and raised his arm and cupped her cheek as his current frown became a worried one. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She rested her head in his hand for a moment as she felt the comfort almost emitting from his fingertips as he caressed her cheek, a sad and worried look on his face as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I don't know. I'm just worried. You know, what if everything goes wrong and people die and it somehow ends up being my fault."

"If anything would happen, it would never be your fault, okay? You're probably one of the only people in town who solves more issues than you create. And, hey, I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure that we all come back." he smiled comfortingly at her as his hand was lowered back to her arm as he rubbed it comfortingly once again. She nodded, even if she wasn't entirely convinced that she was that person he was describing her as.

He nodded for a moment and looked at her quickly before turning around, getting ready to leave but then he stopped as she spoke up. "Stefan..." he turned around and looked at her for a moment, not knowing what she was going to say, but he was looking forward to it. "You know what, I'll just grab my jacket and meet you downstairs. We can talk later."

He nodded and turned around and was just about to walk out the door when he suddenly stopped. He thought for a moment about what would happen if Natalie was right, if everything did end up going to hell and people die. Then again, he didn't want to ruin the obviously good direction they were headed in but sometimes even Stefan Salvatore needed to be reckless.

He turned back around to face her and she tilted her head in confusion, not knowing why he turned around again because he was supposed to leave and wait for her to meet him downstairs and they'd leave. It was supposed to be as simple as that.

But he had other plans. Plans he followed through with as he stalked closer to her and quickly grabbed each side of her cheeks, putting his lips on hers as she closed her eyes, because she understood the need of that kiss. If anything happened, they had that kiss and they could hold on to the feeling that kiss sparked in them as he let her know that he had feelings for her, even if she couldn't feel how strong they really were. At least he actually liked her, so one part of her dream was wrong. God, she loved him. He pulled away and felt her heavy breath on him as he muttered a reasoning to her. "That's just in case there is no later."

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The Woods

After a while of not finding Alaric and leading him towards a trap, Caroline and Elijah came to get her and ask her what was going on but she had no clue. The two friends of hers then decided that they needed to ask Stefan and Jeremy what was going on and they all went to the place they were supposed to meet so they'd kick Alaric's ass.

But when they got there, Natalie saw Stefan standing there with a mix of a look of anger and sadness on his face and she wondered what was going on. "Stefan? What's happening?"

"We didn't fool him. He got to Klaus." he simply answered and he looked down, because Klaus was the one who turned Mary who turned Rose who turned Katherine who turned Stefan and Damon who turned Caroline. Which meant they were all going to die.

Natalie sucked in a breath as she glanced at Elijah who had just gotten the news that his brother died, and just looked in shock, as if he couldn't believe that it happened. She then looked over at Caroline who looked close to tears. Because that meant that they'd all die, and even if Klaus was lying about being the originator of their sire line, he still turned Tyler. But then she looked at Stefan and she knew that she ruined it.

She was the reason they were all dying. If she was only better at convincing Alaric that Damon was burying Klaus there and he didn't see through her and found them and killed him which meant that they were all dying. It was all her fault.

Stefan met her eyes for a moment and he saw the tears building up in her eyes and he ran forwards, and she started running too before she basically jumped into his arms as she felt them wrap around her as she started crying even more. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"Hey, hey. It's not." he comforted her as he tightened his grip on her. "I guess there won't be a later, huh? But it's okay, you know it's not your fault. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine."

She let out a sob as she had no idea how long he'd have left. He might just fall apart right now and she needed to tell him one more time, even if he wouldn't respond because that was how she felt and no matter how awful it would be to lose him, she couldn't lose him without saying it. "I love you."

He couldn't stop a single tear streaming down his cheek, even with how hard he tried. If he hadn't been holding them back, he would be a sobbing mess right now. But he needed to keep it under wraps. He needed to stay strong for her. He released her from his arms as he saw another tear go down her cheek. "I love you."

This time her arms went underneath his before she gripped his shoulders. Stefan put an arm around her waist as he stroked her hair and put the lower part of his face in her hair as he kissed her head affectionatly. "God, I love you, Natalie."

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Mystic Falls Hospital

Alaric was dead. And the only way for Alaric to die was for Elena to die. So Rebekah had made Matt and Elena drive off Wickery Bridge and drown. Stefan had gotten there in time to save one and Elena made sure it was Matt. When he came back, it was too late.

So that's how Stefan and Natalie ended up in the morgue, staring at Elena's dead body lying down and she was so lifeless and she didn't breathe and it almost hurt for them to see her like that. The two gripped one another's hands and waited for it. It could come at any time.

Because Meredith Fell had done something when Elena went to the hospital. She had a supply of Damon's blood and she helped Elena get better. So when Elena drowned... well, it was kinda obvious.

And it definitely obvious when the dead girl came back to life with a gasp.

Only this time she was a vampire in transition

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A/N: Ehm, how am I done with season 3 already, like, what is this? I can tell you that season 4 will be full of ups and downs because it is very confusing how everyone feels about everyone then.

And just in case you're wondering, Elena did still choose Stefan. Just so you know.

Votes and comments are greatly appreciated.