Loneliest time of year — Mabel

It was the holiday season but, Gianina wasn't feeling too merry. She had a long list of problems since coming to Mystic Falls, and it was only seeming to get longer. If she stepped within two feet of Jeremy, he would attempt to kill her, she was getting all these memories about two of her failed relationships, her friends were all plotting on her closest confidant, and said confidant was constantly reminding her of her conflicting feelings for him.

None of that was really something to celebrate.

Currently, the snow was falling down around her as she walked around the town square. She was attending some Christmas event Caroline begged her to come to but, still had yet to actually find the blonde. She had practically looked everywhere until finally coming across her frantically running over.

"Care, what is it?" Gianina questioned, raising her brow slightly.

"We need you to distract Klaus, I can explain later but he's in the Grill, like, now." The blonde explained, her friend looking her up and down.

"I don't want to hurt—"

"We have no time! Let's go!" Caroline pulled the girl in the opposite direction, and into the Grill, where people from all over town sat, spreading their merry cheer. "I just need you to distract him, i'll text you when the coast is clear."

The blonde shoved Gia further into the grill and then disappeared somewhere into the crowd leaving her alone. Gianina let out a light sigh and wondered how she had ended up here, the pawn between two sides, neither one inherently good or evil. Story of her life you could say.

The brunette brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear and walked forward, a piece of art striking her fancy not too far away. It held darkness, but some hint of beauty within, something she could relate to quite well. She eyed it carefully, then upon feeling the presence of someone behind her back, she almost immediately could tell who the art belonged to.

"I see you enjoy my work." Klaus' voice sent a shiver down the girls spine. She hadn't seen him since the pageant, and although they weren't in a fight she wouldn't exactly say they were on the best of terms either.

"It's beautiful." Gianina inhaled, then let out a shaky breath as she turned around to face the man who most feared, even her in some way. "But everyone knows you're talented."

"I have actually brushed up on your talents as well, dug up some footage from your past performances. There's an... emptiness there, like you have everything but you're missing something." Klaus was close, too close for comfort, or at least too close for what Gia could handle at the moment.

She stepped back slightly to keep her composure, and took one more deep breath.

"You got all that from a dance?" She questioned, raising a brow as she did her best to put on a front.

"It's not the dance that tells me what I need to know, it's the way you danced. Professional, poised, perfect but hungry. Dancing makes you happy, and through it, you search for what is missing but you cannot seem to find it." Klaus explained, letting the words fall from his mouth without much thought. He couldn't think much in the presence of Gianina Salvatore, he just spoke freely.

"You're rambling." The hybrid replied, letting out an uncomfortable laugh, she turned back to the painting, and folded one arm over another.

Things between her and Klaus had changed, she wasn't sure how or when but he was no longer someone she hated. He wasn't a means to an end, as much as she wanted him to be. She felt something for him, and she could deny it as much as she wanted but it was there... and it wasn't going away.

The Salvatore's phone rang and she received a "coast is clear" text, letting her finally breathe.

"I have to go." She commented, brushing past Klaus before he could say another word.

Maybe if she pushed him away, he'd leave all on his own.

Gia took everyone going MIA on here as a sign she should just enjoy the Mystic Falls festivities. She was opening up slightly to the idea of the holidays, probably because of the cheerful spirit going on in the town with all the regular people. It did however make her long to be human, normal.

No vampire problems would make her life a whole lot easier.

"Oh, it's you." Hayley commented as the two girls bumped into each other, the werewolf looking quite suspicious.

"Yeah, me." Gianina furrowed her brows. "Have you seen Caroline? Tyler? Anyone really."

"Oh, yeah... they're around here... somewhere." Hayley's eyed shifted back and forth, making the hybrid narrow her eyes in thought.

"I know I told Tyler I would try to get along with you but I don't trust you. At all." Gia admitted, her fingers turning into a slight fist.

"Well, it's a good thing that I don't need your trust then, isn't it?" The Marshall girl scoffed and walked around Gianina, the Salvatore following where she went with her eyes.

The werewolf stopped and talked to Klaus briefly, and they were seemingly in some type of argument. Though, it was hard for Gia to hear over everyone in the square. Her heart had a funny feeling in that moment, like something bad was going to happen.

It was that moment that Stefan approached Klaus to talk. Gianina held the fabric at her sides, and cursed beneath her breath before making her way over to them. Nothing good was bound to happen when Stefan and Klaus exchanged words angrily.

"I don't trust you." The girls brother spoke to her friend as she approached, Klaus' eyes drifting to the side to make contact with her own.

"Were you apart of this?" He asked, his tone quiet but intimidating all at once. "It struck me as odd you spoke to me so freely after the other day but I imagined our relationship is just one that overcame hardships—"

"Klaus, I don't know what you're talking about. Yes, they asked me to speak to you but I have no idea why." Gianina explained, her eyebrows furrowing angry, she didn't like being accused of something bad, especially when her intentions were nothing of the sort.

"I don't want to hear your lies." The Mikaelson man seemed to turn angry as his voiced raised. He looked upward in that moment and caught sight of one of his hybrids, lightly clearing his throat. "Excuse me."

He walked away, leaving the two Salvatore siblings standing side by side.

"Why didn't you tell him I didn't have any part of your plan? I still know absolutely nothing about what's going on!" Gia yelled frustratedly at her brother.

"Why do you care what he thinks about you, G? He's the bad guy here." Stefan shook his head and looked her up and down. "This is why nobody tells you anything."

"You haven't included me in anything far before I met Klaus Mikaelson." Gianina replied back bitterly, letting herself roll her eyes.

She shook her head, tears pricking at her eyes before she walked off in the opposite direction.

Christmas season, what a lonely time of year.

authors note:
sorry this is horrible, I know I always say this but i'm getting back into writing and sometimes it's hard to write properly when I have to get back into the groove.

what do you think Gia's reaction to the massacre will be?

hope you enjoyed!