VII. THE ART OF BETRAYAL

   KATHERINE Pierce was not Ivy's first friend, but she was the first woman Ivy had met from outside of Mystic Falls. She was the first woman that was in a way— proof that a woman could survive in the world without a husband or without tending to the home; that is what made Ivy feel drawn to her.

She was different than Claire and Charlotte— more assertive and confident in herself, despite the circumstances that pushed against her. Ivy didn't favor her over her childhood friends; they were just different.

   Claire made Ivy feel protected; she was always there with her sharp tongue and wit. The Gilbert girl was far too smart for her time and she made sure everyone was aware of that fact; Claire Gilbert was not going to settle, nor did she need to. Ivy and Charlotte often joked that she reminded them of Elizabeth Bennet from one of their favorite novels, Pride and Prejudice. She was witty and intelligent but often found herself acting impulsively.

Charlotte made Ivy feel at home; there was a certain warmth the Forbes girl carried with her as she ventured around their town. Her soft mannerisms were endearing, as was her passion for learning and the prospect of adventure. Lottie was their own Jane Bennet— kindhearted and full of life.

She had other friends within Mystic Falls, but they paled in comparison to Claire and Charlotte.

That is until Katherine Pierce appeared.

For the first time since her adolescence, Ivy felt like she was able to connect to someone aside from Lottie and Claire; both girls who also found themselves drawn to Katherine.

They were dreamers in a world for men, but Katherine Pierce had men eating from the palm of her hand.

   It wasn't that Ivy was entirely convinced that women were purely meant for the home, but she hadn't ever seen a success story of a woman without a man, that is, one that did not exist within the withered pages of a novel.

   And yet, despite her father's hateful remarks about how women would never amount to that of a man, there was Katherine Pierce.

Katherine oozed confidence and demanded respect; more often than not, she got it.

That was the true start of their friendship.

Katherine taught Ivy and her friends how to have men on their knees while maintaining their "ladylike" manners.

Ivy didn't like to get attached, she had a horrible track record with it, but the contrast between the hardness Katherine portrayed and the softness she expressed as times had Ivy intrigued.

Ivy learned how to be confident within herself; she learned it was okay to have dreams and that despite the world being against her, they were achievable.

Ivy trusted Katherine, which was not something she did often.

She was naive and optimistic, but she also knew the harsh realities of the world and tried her best to guard herself.

Despite that, Katherine supported her in her endeavors and admirations; which is what made the betrayal even worse.

Ivy loved too hard— she always had.

Yet, no matter how many times she got disappointed, she was never discouraged from loving to her full potential, but the final blow was Katherine's devotion to both of her brothers.

Ivy was kind, but she protected her brothers fiercely. She was the youngest of the three and somehow the most protective.

There were several times she pushed aside her place as a lady to put other people in their places, but almost all of those situations were due to her brothers:

Ivy shoving her father against the piano when he attempted to charge at Damon, Ivy punching a boy he shoved Stefan too hard whilst playing baseball after learning it from European travelers, nailing her father's shoes into the ground when he went on drunken tangents because in the morning he wouldn't remember her doing it; to name a few.

Ivy was kind, but for her brothers, she would do anything.

When Ivy noticed the way her brothers were being played with, as though they were toys and not humans; she was furious.

She trusted Katherine, but Katherine had betrayed her, and worst of all, she had hurt Ivy's brothers in the process.

While Ivy was angry, there was this sliver of her that was lost. She valued and admired Katherine as not only a friend, but as an individual, but she couldn't deny that the thought of her brothers in pain— especially by someone she deemed close to her, made her sick.

Ivy was conflicted; she had no clue as to how she should feel.

The only thing she knew for sure was that betrayal was one of the worst types of heartbreak.

   "I guess we should start at the beginning, what all did Katherine tell you?"

Ivy hesitated to respond— what if they knew more than her and decided it wasn't the time to tell her?

That just wouldn't do.

"What did she tell you?" Ivy narrowed her eyes at her brothers, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

Stefan reached over to flick her ear, grinning as she winced at the contact, "Don't do that, Ivy."

Ivy grinned innocently, "Dear brother, I have not a clue what you're talking about."

Damon, seemingly over with the banter between the twins, spoke up, "Alright, Bambi, out with it. What do you know?"

Ivy glowered at her eldest brother, "I don't recall giving your speaking privileges back." Ivy turned to Stefan with wide eyes, "I didn't give them back, did I?"

Damon rolled his eyes, "You can't just take away my right to speak when you don't want to answer something."

"Yes I can," Ivy shrugged, chuckling at Damon grumbled. She turned to Stefan with a mischievous grin, "Goodness, you've lived over one hundred years with him? You poor thing."

Ivy pouted at Stefan, moving her hand from her lap to reach out and pat the top of her twin's head. When she turned back to Damon, he was glaring and holding his hand up to her— all fingers aside from his middle finger were tucked away.

What?

"What does that mean?"

Instead of responding, Damon grinned and lifted his other hand to repeat the gesture, now holding two fingers up in her direction.

Ivy whined under her breath before looking in Stefan's direction, "What is he doing?"

"Ivy, it's nothing."

Ivy huffed out a breath of air as she gestured to Damon who was still silent, but now rotating his fingers in circles. "Clearly it alludes to something; otherwise, our vazey brother wouldn't be sticking his fingers in my face!"

   At her insult, both of her brothers snorted before falling into harmony with their laughter.

   Ivy, however, was not amused.

   What do those fingers mean?!

   Ivy grumbled, pulling her legs up to tuck them underneath her. "You two are infuriating."

"Sorry," Stefan paused when he made eye contact with Damon again before laughing even harder. When his laughter finally slowed, he tried again. "Sorry. We're sorry, Ivy."

"Speak for yourself, little brother."

Despite not knowing what sticking her finger up meant, Ivy decided to flick her middle finger up in Damon's direction. She smiled at him as he gasped dramatically, holding his hand over his heart.

"Damon," Stefan warned.

"What happened to our sweet little sister?" Damon held the back of his hand to his forehead, huffing out breaths.

"She became surrounded by muttonheads and lost her sanity," Ivy used her free hand to gesture to the middle finger she was waving in Damon's direction, "Clearly."

Once again, her brothers dissolved into giggles.

Ivy groaned and buried her face into the palms of her hands, "Oh, grow up won't you!"

Again, it was Stefan who gained his composure first, "Sorry, V. I just, well, we haven't heard some of these words in years."

Ivy grumbled— once again sticking her middle finger out, this time in Stefan's direction.

She still didn't know what it meant, but if Damon used it against her while they were bantering she was sure it wasn't particularly nice.

Stefan slapped her hand away, smiling as he did so. "Okay, you successfully diverted the topic, but now you have to talk to us."

"Are you trying to be intimidating? You forget that we are twins, Stefan; mother bathed us together, I remember grandmother calling you Steffie, and I was the one who aided you in pulling out your first tooth. You do not exactly instill fear in me."

Stefan scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Okay, first off, grandmother did not call me Steffie."

"Oh, yes she did," Damon interjected.

Stefan ignored him, "And secondly, I was not trying to intimidate you."

Ivy grinned, "Oh, I know. I just wanted to be sure that you understand I have quite a lot of leverage over you," she paused to glance at Damon, sending him a discreet wink. "Steffie."

"Grandmother did not call me Steffie!"

Ivy reached over to her twin, taking the skin of his cheek between her fingers and pinching. She mimicked the slight southern accent of their grandmother as she spoke, "Steffie, aren't you just as cute as a bug's ear!"

Stefan's cheeks flamed as he pushed her hands away. Damon was leaning onto the bookcase for support as he laughed. Ivy grinned proudly at her reenactment of their late grandmother.

"You know what, time to take you back to that tomb."

Ivy swatted at Stefan as he dodged her swings, laughing under his breath, "You will regret that, Steffie!"

Damon was wiping at his face as he attempted to calm down, "Oh my God. This is too good. I had forgotten that grandma called you that."

"Don't think I forgot about Dammie."

Damon's laughter stopped abruptly as his head whipped around to face Ivy, "Absolutely not."

It was Stefan's turn to laugh as he began rocking back and forth, "I forgot about that! Precious little Dammie!"

Damon was moaning as he covered his face with his hands, "This is horrible. No one can ever speak of this, I mean it."

"I promise to not speak of this to anyone," Ivy grinned coyly, "that is if you don't annoy me."

"She had a nickname for you too!"

"Inesa is hardly as mortifying as Steffie or Dammie," Ivy waved her hand dismissively, "but if you wish to attempt to hold that over my head, go ahead. It's my middle name, it's hardly anything scandalous."

Stefan grinned, "Well, I can remember your first—"

His words were cut off by Ivy launching herself across the bed and smacking her hand over Stefan's mouth. He struggled against her as she laughed, holding him down and keeping her hand pressed to his mouth.

He attempted to speak, but only mumbles were heard muffled behind the barrier of Ivy's hand.

"Speak of that and I will put vervain in your soap." Ivy waited until Stefan nodded to retract her hand and shift back to her previous sitting place. With a grin, she swiped her hand against her blanket to rid herself of any germs, "Well, now that we have gotten that out of the way, I believe you were going to tell me what you know of vampires and Katherine."

Damon shook his head, "Nuh-uh. Nope. Not true. You were just about to tell us what you know."

Ivy tapped her chin, feigning innocence, "Was I? How odd, I do not recall that happening. Are you sure that over a hundred years of living has not caused any damage to your memory? You are quite old, you know."

"Cut it out, Bambi."

What is a Bambi? Seriously!

Ivy crossed her arms over her chest, chin lifted in defiance, "If I know less than you, I know you will not tell me the full truth until you deem fit in some scheme to protect me."

"You're our sister, of course we are going to protect you."

"Need I remind you that I did most of the protecting when we were children? Stefan, I got my first bruised knuckle punching Albert Crowell for calling you foozler! And Damon, I nailed all father's field boots to the floor when he stole money from you! I can look after myself, but I cannot do that if I do not know everything!"

Stefan sighed as he ran his hands over his face, "You're right. I know you are, but we haven't seen you for years. All we want to do is protect you, even more so than before."

Ivy nodded, smiling softly as she ruffled his hair, "I know that you only wish to keep me from harm, but keeping me from the truth will only hurt me. I love you both dearly."

"We love you too," Damon returned her smile, pushing off the wall as his smile morphed into a smirk, "Did you say foozler?"

When her brothers began laughing again, Ivy stood up and grabbed them both by the arms, dragging them in the direction of the door. She pushed against them until they were out of the room before swiftly shutting the door.

She flicked the lock, grinning when they began banging on the wood.

She hummed as she stepped back, seemingly proud of herself, "You two may speak to me when you are no longer annoying me and poking fun at me!"

"You can't kick me out of my room!"

Ivy turned away from the door, padding over to Stefan's bed, "I just did!"

The door handle rattled as Stefan continued to try to open the door, "Ivy, come on! We were kidding! We were having a moment there!"

"And yet you ruined it! Goodnight brothers. I do hope you two like to cuddle as you have to share a bed for the night. We will talk in the morning; I hope by then you have remembered your manners."

With a satisfactory grin, Ivy turned to her beloved light switch and turned the lights off. Waltzing over to Stefan's bed, she peeled the sheets back and climbed into the bed, tucking herself beneath the covers— allowing them to cover her.

She made sure her feet were completely hidden before she turned on her side, eyes fluttering shut as she began to succumb to her drowsiness.

IVY despised mornings— absolutely hated them with every fiber of her being.

   The soft white and pale yellow hues of the sun poured in through the curtains of Stefan's bedroom, the warmth of the sun touching Ivy's exposed skin.

  It sounded nice, but Ivy did not think so.

   With a groan she pulled the sheets over her head, concealing her body from the light and burrowing further into the blankets as though they would swallow her.

   Please do. Mornings are horrendous.

   After a few minutes of procrastinating and putting off the impending conversation with her brothers, Ivy grumbled and pushed the covers off.

   She stood up, wiping her eyes with her balled fists as she attempted to wake herself up fully before descending downstairs.

Blinking rapidly, she finally moved towards the door, unlocking it and walking down the stairs. Once at the base of the stairs, she frowned.

Maybe she should have paid more attention the night before to the layout of the home, but she had been entirely too excited about the idea of the shower in their home.

In their home!

Huffing to herself, she looked up the stairs and then back down the hallway, trying to decide whether she should wander in hopes of finding her brothers or returning to Stefan's bedroom till they retrieved her.

Before she could make her decision, the sound of footsteps drew her direction to the hallway. Smiling sleepily, she met Stefan halfway in the hallway with a hug.

She had always been affectionate when she was tired; even more so in the mornings.

Stefan wrapped his arms around her, remembering her dazed and affectionate mannerisms when she would wake from when she was young, or rather when he was young.

Ivy pulled back, rubbing at her eyes again, "Mornin'."

Stefan grinned at the tired slur of words, a tendency she had when she first woke up, "Good sleep?"

"Mhm," Ivy's grin widened, "your bed is comfy."

Stefan rolled his eyes and playfully shoved at her shoulder before taking her wrist in his hand, "I'll show you around later. Damon's making you something to eat."

Ivy bounced on her heels as she sped up behind Stefan, "Oh! I'm famished! I haven't eaten in, well, quite a while? I'm not entirely sure how to properly word it all. You understand what I mean, don't you?"

Amused by her excitement, Stefan nodded, "I know what you mean."

Leading her into the kitchen, Stefan pulled out a stool for her to sit on, urging her onto the chair as she attempted to touch appliances in the kitchen.

Damon turned around from his place over the sink, smiling as they entered, "Morning."

"G'mornin," Ivy smiled. She scolded herself mentally for the shortened words, it was not proper even if they were her brothers.

   Internally, she knew it did not matter, but she couldn't forget the governess's tone when she would scold Ivy for her attitude after waking up.

   In both an attempt to distract herself and to understand the new technology of her time, Ivy began touching things in the kitchen.

"Don't touch stuff, Ivy. It's hot and you could burn yourself."

Ivy immediately pulled her hands away, tucking them in her lap so she wouldn't reach out again, "Would it be a bother if I were to ask you for a book or two? I feel terribly lost with all of these new things! I mean, I am wearing pants!"

She turned in her seat, showcasing the far too large sweatpants covering her legs. With wide eyes, she gestured to them with a whisper, "Pants."

"Stefan has been compiling a master list of history books for you. I recommended we just watch movies, but he insists."

   "Movies?"

   Stefan shot a pointed look at Damon, "See, I told you." Turning to Ivy, he shook his head, "Don't worry, we'll get there. We have to start with the basics."

   Ivy nodded her head at her clothing yet again, "Pants."

   "Yes, Ivy, pants," Damon chuckled as he turned back to continue preparing food.

   "Well, yes women can wear pants, but I was thinking more about the bigger things. Like the fact that the Union won the Civil War shortly after you disappeared."

   Ivy gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, "Really? Oh my, that is wonderful! I was so worried."

   "Then after, someone killed President Lincoln."

   "That is horrible!"

   Stefan nodded, "See, a lot more than just pants has happened. Which is why I'm getting a collection of history books for you."

   "Thank you."

   Damon, with his back still turned, spoke up, "You should be thanking me. After all, I made you your favorite breakfast food."

   Did he? No, surely he couldn't have remembered.

   When he turned around with the plate in hand, Ivy jumped in her seat, clapping her hands, "Pancakes!"

   Damon grinned as he set the plate down in front of her, pushing a variety of things in her direction; fruit, syrup, a can? Odd.

   Ivy pulled the plate close to her, looking at Damon with a wide smile, "Thank you so much!"

   Damon nodded, turning to Stefan with a smirk, "I'm her favorite today."

   "No, you're not. I'm her twin, I'm always her favorite."

   When they looked to Ivy to settle their argument, she was completely entranced by her pancakes and assortments of toppings; paying no attention to the conversation at hand.

   Picking the can up, she turned it over and upside down with a small frown, turning to her brothers completely unaware of the competition brewing, she said a single word, "Help?"

AFTER indulging in far too many pancakes and receiving a tour of her new home, Ivy lay sprawled across the couch with a history textbook in hand.

She was not sure how long she had been reading, only that she never imagined all of these things possible.

Beginning in the year she disappeared, 1864, Ivy had slowly begun working her way to the modern time— pausing every so often to ask her brothers questions or just stare at the book in pure fascination.

Her mind was racing with all the new possibilities she was granted; it was liberating.

The current time she was reading was the 1920s— skimming over the culture and life until—

Wait.

Surely that was a mistake.

She went back a few sentences and reread the words to confirm what she had read.

Oh my God.

Ivy slammed the book shut, startling her brothers who were across from her. Waving the book in the air, her eyes grew in size as she stared at them, "I can vote! How come this was not the first thing you told me? I cannot believe this, father would be positively devastated! How wonderful is that! I can't believe this. How did this happen? Seriously, why did no one tell me? Can I vote now? Let's go! I can vote, guys!"

Stefan stood up and walked over to Ivy, who at some point in her rant, had also stood. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he attempted to calm her down, "Yes you can vote now. Sorry, we didn't mention it before, we were a bit surprised you were even alive. And as for voting, we can't exactly explain who you are."

Ivy fell defeated to the couch, pouting as she held the book to her chest, "I forgot about that."

Damon leaned forward on his knees, "Alright, enough studying. We need to talk."

This conversation was almost diverted! So close.

Ivy smacked the book against her head with a groan, "First I cannot vote and now I have to discuss serious topics with you two. Honestly, how do I get back inside that coffin?"

Stefan reached over to flick her. Grinning in satisfaction before he went to sit down again. "Enough, Ivy. We have to talk about this. You cannot dodge the conversation forever."

"I can try."

"Nope. We are having this discussion."

Ivy sunk back into the couch at Damon's tone, "Fine."

"What do you remember about Katherine?"

"Well, I know about the supernatural world if that is what you're asking. I know most of Katherine's life, or what she told me of it. She was born in Europe, turned as a young girl in a moment of desperation, and has been on her own ever since really. I know little of other supernatural beings aside from what she and Emily shared with me."

"You understand the nature of vampires?"

"Yes. Some feed on human blood while others feed on animal blood— it is down to preference really. I know of healing, strength, weaknesses, and a multitude of other things. Emily said that it was important I knew all that I could should I need to protect myself.

"Good, that's good."

"Where is Katherine? You haven't spoken of her aside from your questions to me."

"Your guess is as good as ours," Damon responded painfully.

"I vaguely remember her being rounded up after you attempted to free her, but she wasn't in the tomb when you found me, was she? If she had been, she would have been there when they woke me."

"Katherine was supposed to be in the tomb," Stefan nodded, confirming Ivy's words.

"But she somehow got out before it sealed. Has been out this entire time. She's alive and well apparently."

Ivy winced at Damon's words, eyes darting between her brothers, "I am so sorry. I know you cared for her. I admit that I am at a loss for words."

"Yeah, me too." Damon ran his fingers through his hair, chewing on his lip anxiously.

"I," Ivy paused apprehensively, "I am sorry for you both. Damon, you only desired an immortal life to be with her and I am sorry that you did not get what you envisioned."

Damon looked up from his hands, "Don't worry about it, V. I'd take finding you in that tomb over her any day."

Ivy smiled at his words, but couldn't help but feel sick to her stomach.

She knew that Katherine was going to hurt her brothers. She had tried desperately to fight off the pain they were inevitably going to endure, but her endeavors were pointless.

Because in the end, Katherine Pierce deceived them too.

________

qotd: team stelena or delena?
personally, i dislike both ships :)

also important little note, in
the near future i will be opening
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create for this story, dm me on
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