THE FUNERAL

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BEFORE DINAH WAS READY — THOUGH SHE DIDN'T think she'd ever be truly ready — it was time for the funeral of Thalia and Everett Barnes. Though Lucy and Steven had mostly taken the lead on planning it, they'd asked Dinah for her opinion on a few things so that she wouldn't feel excluded or like she hadn't helped at all.

The teenager crouched at the entrance to her closet, looking at her shoes and wondering which ones she'd wear with her black dress. She normally wasn't the type of person that struggled with stuff like this, what to wear, what shoes matched best with her outfit. Usually, she didn't care or she had Caroline or Elena to help her decide what worked best. But today, it seemed she just couldn't make up her mind. With good reason, of course.

We need to get revenge, that voice in her head whispered. Show them that we aren't to be messed with.

I don't care about revenge, Dinah told the voice. I don't have the energy for that. I just want to put my parents to rest.

Let us do it, the voice offered.

Dinah was tempted by that offer. To just let go for a little while, forget about putting herself through the daily tasks of life. But nothing good had ever come from giving in to those voices the few times in the past that she'd done it. Dinah would never try to claim that she didn't have a vengeful streak, that she couldn't be scary when she was angry enough and motivated enough. But the voices were always so much worse than her.

It was crazy to think that it wasn't even a full year ago yet that Dinah had learned about the supernatural for the first time. When Stefan and Damon Salvatore returned to town and brought chaos in their wake. It was also crazy to think that, despite not being totally human herself, Dinah had learned about the existence of vampires before she'd learned she was a witch.

Her mom had taught her almost everything she knew about magic, but when she'd first been told that she was a witch, that hadn't been where the conversation had ended.

Thalia had explained that while the Barnes Coven had a very long and storied history that went back to before they had the name Barnes, Dinah was tied much more tightly to that history than almost any other member of the family, save for a few ancestors. To put it as simply as possible, Dinah had been reincarnated many times since her first life, this one just being the last of those many. And ever since she had been dumb enough to do a seance with Bonnie, Caroline and Elena, she'd heard the voices of her past lives whispering in the back of her mind. Most of the time, she could ignore them. She didn't always.

"You dressed?" Selena asked from the doorway.

"Yeah," Dinah said, grabbing a pair of plain black heels and standing up. "All ready to go."

"You should put some makeup on," Selena suggested. "Just to cover those bags under your eyes. Do you really want everyone to know you aren't sleeping well?"

"My parents died, Lena, I think they expect me to look like shit," Dinah said.

"Exactly, they're already worried about you, do you want to give them a real reason to be worried?"

Dinah sighed, not feeling up to arguing. She told Selena she could do her makeup, which made her smile before she ushered Dinah over to her desk where her makeup was. It didn't take her long as she just used some concealer and waterproof mascara. Dinah put her heels on and it was finally time for the funeral.

They sat in the front row, Dinah holding tightly to Selena's hand, grateful for the support. The two cousins sat in the seats closest to the aisle with Lucy and Steven sitting on their left. She couldn't help looking at the empty pew next to them that had been reserved for her estranged grandparents and other family. She hadn't really expected them to come when Lucy said she was inviting her parents, especially given everything that Thalia had told Dinah about why they were estranged, but she had hoped they'd come anyway.

It had been years since Lucy or Thalia had spoken to their parents or any relatives. Dinah was almost certain that they didn't know that she or Selena existed. She had never known the full story of their estrangement but she knew that it was bad. When she was younger, she would speculate about what the family that had been left behind, how many other people she shared blood with that she didn't know.

She noticed Lucy staring at the empty pew as well before her gaze would fall and Steven would wrap an arm around her to comfort her. Lucy had clearly been hoping they'd come as well. As much as meeting her extended family for the first time at her parents' funeral would probably have put a damper on their relationship, it would have been nice to see that they still cared.

When they asked if anyone wanted to speak, Dinah didn't stand. She'd hardly been able to stop crying since they arrived, let alone long enough to get through a speech. Instead, Lucy stood up at the front before everyone, a paper clutched in her hands with her speech written on it.

"Thalia was... the best sibling someone could have asked for. She was one of the best people I knew. When we first met Everett, he was the new kid. He told me once that though my sister and I and my husband, Steven, were his first friends, he had known he wanted to marry Thalia from the moment he laid eyes on her. And though Thalia was hesitant at first, afraid, I'd never seen her happier than when they were together."

Dinah wished she had her aunt's strength, as Lucy had lost her sister but hadn't shed a tear yet. She was a pillar of strength, managing to keep her composure as Dinah's sobs echoed through the church.

"Well, I didn't see her happier until she held Dinah in her arms for the first time in the hospital. It was pure love in both her and Everett's eyes as they looked at their baby girl for the first time. Thalia only ever wanted the best for Dinah and fought to be able to give it to her. She was always proud of her and I know she still is. That she's smiling down on us from wherever she is."

Lucy finished her speech, Dinah turning her head into her cousin's shoulder as she tried to quiet her sobs, hating the sound of them echoing back to her from the church's high ceilings. Selena squeezed her hand reassuringly before wrapping her other arm around her.

Afterwards, at the luncheon, Dinah stood with Lucy, Steven and Selena as everyone in the town of Mystic Falls came to offer their condolences to the family on the terrible loss. She knew that they were truly sorry for her loss but after the fifth person that she didn't recognize came by her, she couldn't help feeling less and less consoled by their words.

"Hey, Dinah," Elena Gilbert said as she came up with their other friends, Bonnie and Caroline.

"Hey, guys," she said. "Uh, this is my Aunt Lucy, Uncle Steven and cousin, Selena. I don't know if you remember them from the last time they came down to visit."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Bonnie said.

"How are you holding up, Di?" Elena asked.

"I'm... not fine, but, you know... working towards getting there."

"If you need anything at all," Caroline said.

"You just have to call," Elena agreed.

"Thank you. Really."

The three girls moved on and Steven wrapped an arm around Dinah and she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"How much longer do we have to stand here?" she asked.

"Just a little while longer," he promised. "You want me to go get you some of those finger sandwiches?"

"Yes, please. And some punch, too?"

"Of course. What about you girls?"

"Just punch for me, please," Lucy said.

"I could go for some of those cookies," Selena said.

"Cookies, sandwiches and four glasses of punch, got it."

With that, her uncle kissed his wife on the cheek and wandered off to the food table and Selena took the chance to move to the other side of Lucy and take Dinah's hand once more, causing her to smile at her younger cousin. It was going to be a long day.

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A FEW DAYS AFTER THE FUNERAL, almost all of Dinah's belongings were finally packed up into boxes and various bags that were going to be travelling with them back to California. They'd decided what of her parents' belongings they were going to keep and what was going to be donated and they had been packed up into the appropriate boxes.

Dinah couldn't help but feel strange standing in her mostly empty home. There were so many memories wrapped up in it, each of them more painful than the last now. As scared as she was to be moving to an entirely different state almost across the entire country, Dinah was glad to be leaving Mystic Falls behind. It was too painful to stay, now. And how could she ever continue living there when she couldn't go through the center of town without walking over the very place where her parents had been murdered?

When there was a knock at the door, Dinah was startled out of her thoughts. She stood up straight from where she was packing things into a box and listened for a moment.

"Di, the door's for you!" Selena called.

The teenager jogged down the stairs and towards the front door, stepping around her cousin.

"He's cute," Selena whispered to her cousin, a teasing smile on her face. "I'm going back upstairs."

Brow furrowing, Dinah looked to the door only to see none other than Stefan Salvatore standing on her front porch.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey. Can I come in?"

"Uh, I'm actually pretty busy with packing."

"You're packing up your parents stuff already?" Stefan asked.

"Well, we can't just leave it all here. Aunt Lucy suggested we donate it, so, we're gonna do that," Dinah explained.

"Why couldn't you just leave it for a few more days? Surely you could give yourself some more time before going through all their stuff."

"Oh," Dinah said as she remembered. "I forgot I didn't tell anyone."

"Forgot what?" Stefan asked.

"I'm not staying in Mystic Falls, Stefan," she said. "I'm going to live with my aunt and uncle in California."

"You're leaving?" he asked, sounding genuinely surprised and almost hurt.

"I can't expect them to uproot their lives for me. It'll be easier for me to move there than for all three of them to move here," she explained. "Besides, it'll be nice to be in a place where everything isn't a painful reminder of my parents."

"Where exactly do they live?"

"Someplace in California called Beacon Hills. Apparently, it's a small and very boring town. So basically Mystic Falls before you and your brother decided to come back."

Stefan laughed. "You're sure you have to go?"

"Yeah..." Dinah said, wanting to but unable to look away from his green eyes. "I think it'll be good for me to start over. Not just after everything that's happened to me but after everything that we've all been through here. Get a fresh start with some normalcy, you know?"

"I do," Stefan promised. "Well, I wish you all the best."

"Thanks. Bye, I guess."

"Goodbye."

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an. yay, finally a happy chapter! I wonder how long that'll last for....