๑۩๑

"Persephone!" I'm walking through the corridors of Versailles looking for Persephone. In the real world, I'm sleeping and it's still the same night after what happened with Day. And I really need to talk with the Goddess. I found her in a sitting room and sat next to her.

"I've missed you." She smiles at me.

"I was here last week for the weekly game," I say confused.

"I know but I've missed being with you." She smiles.

"I've been... busy." I shrug.

"Is busy another word for Damon?" She smirks. Sly minx.

"Nooo... It's another word for bio parents, doppelbitches, and... Damon." I nod reluctantly.

"Well, Hades won't be too happy about that. He might let Cerberus loose." She grins.

"Why?" I ask confused.

"He loves you, Ellie. You're like his daughter." She smiles, "In fact, he liked you from the moment you showed up here... In Venice."

"What do you mean?"

"Ellie not every person meets Hades and only worries about hell. They are scared of him." She tells me.

"Why? He's not scary. If you ask me he's like a panda bear." I grin.

"That's what I'm saying. Hades liked your fire. You even snapped at him. Not many do. Only some gods and well... me." She grins.

"Shouldn't I have snapped? I'm really sorry-"

"That's not what I mean Ellie." She laughs amused. Now I'm confused. "Even if he doesn't admit it, he likes that you treat him normally. He liked that you snapped at him. You remind him of himself."

"I don't know if that's a compliment or not..." I mutter.

"Actually I don't either. But since then he gave you special treatment." She says and when I look at her blankly – cause I really don't know what she's on about – she proceeds, "Do you really think we keep watch of the other people who choose the second option? Or give the gifts?"

"You don't?" I ask confused.

"No! There are lots of people who die younger than usual and choose the second choice. It's impossible to monitor all of them. You're the first one Hades let in the Underworld again. Because you were actually worried about not seeing us again."

"Duh. You guys are awesome. And you reminded me of my parents, and you are my parents now."

"And you're like a daughter to us too, Ellie." Persephone smiled, "That is why we gave you our gifts. We love you. And that is why you can talk to me. Not Hades though. At least not about Damon."

"Well- um- I- When I watched the show..." I started, "I used to love Damon. You know. Cause he was misunderstood. Like everyone told him he was bad, and he thought he was. He spent a century and a half trying to get his love back only to discover she didn't give a crap about him. He... He may have been a total ass in the beginning. Killing people and shit. Things that he didn't even do this time."

"That's because of you Ellie." Persephone smiled.

"What? No. He was supposed to compel Care before we met, I think and-"

"Yes, it was. You changed people."

"Yeah right." I scoffed.

"You do. Caroline – from what you told me – was supposed to be really insecure. That was why she let herself be caught by Damon. This time she wasn't insecure. Also Vicky. She isn't on drugs or anything and has fewer problems. Hence she wasn't turned into a vampire. You changed that."

"Ok. I changed them. Not Damon, though." I shrug.

"Yes, you did Ellie. He's not so broken anymore. He and Stefan are on better terms."

"He's still broken. Heartbroken."

"I think he's confused. And when Kathrine appeared tonight he was seeing if spending a century and a half searching for her, was worth something." She told me she's sounding shrinky. "Then he got drunk because he realized that it wasn't and that he doesn't love her anymore."

"That can't be true. I don't care what he said today. He was upset and drunk and..."

"Drunken words are man's sober thoughts." She told me with a smirk.

"Yeah... No... I can't." I tell her.

"Why not?"

"Because... He's still... I'm just a rebound. It's just cause I look like her."

"You really didn't listen to what he said did you?"

"I did... I just. I'm confused. It's different to know him instead of watching it on a TV." I shrug.

"You better resolve those feelings, Ellie." She tells me and I groan.

"I know. I know but it's not that easy and now... Urgh..."

"You'll solve it. I know you will." She smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. I gotta go. I'll see you later. Gotta wake up. Love you." And I wake up in the real world and groan. This is gonna be a fucking day. Urgh. The first thing I did was warn every scooby member about Kitty Kat and that they should protect themselves. Afterward, I apparated to the tree and avoided everyone. The whole day. Actually the next few days – I sent a message to Jenna saying where I was and that I needed time. I'm mainly avoiding Damon though... And in those couple of days that I avoided them, Mason showed up in town (but everyone knows what he is. And what he's after.) But... Damon still had that barbeque in our house (I wasn't there) to talk to Mason and figure him out (I warned him not to kill him though. Not sure how that's gonna play out...). Damon didn't kill or capture or torture Mason. Which is good. After those days I made up my mind and apparated to the boarding house. I walked into the house and saw Kitty Kat drinking bourbon on the couch. They must be out then.

"You must be Elena." She smirked as she stood up.

"Ellie, actually." I corrected her grimacing at my name the I grinned at her, "This is kinda creepy. We look the same. Well, not the same. I'm prettier."

"You sure think a lot of yourself." She smirks.

"Well, it's genetic." I grin and she smirks. "Besides it's true. My eyes are prettier."

"They are different. Why is that?"

"Like I would tell you." I scoff. "Anyway. I'm still not sure whether I should like you." I frown.

"That means there's a chance you would?" She asks curiously.

"Yeah of course." I shrug as I pour myself a drink. "You're badass and I seriously admire your survival skills."

"What?" She asks confused but then masks it with indifference.

"Yeah. But..." I say as I sit down, "You're a bitch. Selfish bitch. And you totally broke the Salvatores."

"You have something for Damon don't you?" She smirks, "Why not Stefan?"

"Eh. Not my type. But this is not about me. Or the brothers. It's about you." I smirk, "I know why you're here."

"Let me guess. You think I came back to steal them from you. Or ruin your life?" She asks.

"What? No. I'm not that self-centered." I laugh and then I whisper with a hand near my mouth, "You're here because of a big bad British wolf." And her indifference falters.

"You don't know anything." She snarls.

"But, I do." I grin, "I already have the moonstone, I'll find a random vampire, there's a wolf coming and then there's myself."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm volunteering for the ritual. But I would advise you to leave town. I know a lot of things. I'll get your freedom."

"You'll get my freedom?" She scoffs.

"Yeah. You don't deserve being on the run for that long. I know you're story. It's not pretty." I shrug.

"You don't know anything." She says again like I didn't listen the first time.

"I know a lot of things and one of them is that you actually do love Steffy. So if you want to be alive to actually talk to him again, I will get out of town until I called you saying you're free."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" She asks.

"You don't." I shrug, "But I am, and Eli is coming to town soon."

"Elijah?"

"Uh-huh." I nod. "Look I meant what I said. You're badass and a survivor and I like that about you. That and you have amazing looks."

"Duh."

"So just give me your number and I'll call you in a few months with your freedom. If I don't have it I'll call you about it. Either way, you don't need to be here right now." I tell her.

"When is Elijah coming?" She asks.

"The day of the masquerade ball is when I'm meeting him. I would leave by then." I say.

"Fine. I'll do it. I like you, Ellie. You're sassy. More like me than I thought."

"That's true. But I'm not a selfish bitch. I may be a bitch sometimes but I'm not really selfish." I smirk.

"Eh. I'll leave before the masquerade." She nods and gives me a card with her number. "By the way, what Damon feels about you... It sounds real. I was the one who kissed him first. He hesitated and pushed back." She tells me with a genuine smile, and I smile back.

"Thanks. And Kat, you're daughter is alive. I'll help you find her once this is over."

"What? Why?"

"Cause you deserve that happiness. And she does too. Her name is Nadia." I say.

"Thank you, Ellie. I'll see you." And then she was gone. And I stayed there drinking glass after glass waiting for Damon to get home. So by the time he did I was sprawled lazily on the couch with a bottle in hand.

"Ellie?" He asked and I turned my head to him with a smile.

"Just met Kitty Kat. She's leaving soon..." I drawl.

"Where were you?" He asks and I can see he's in between angry and concerned. "Are you drunk?"

"Just a tad." I shrug, "I was in the Tree."

"Why?"

"Why am I drunk or why was I avoiding you?"

"Both."

"I'm drunk cause you had drinks and I wanted to- uh I don't even know." I sigh, "I was avoiding you cause... I needed some time to think."

"Time to think?" He asks bitterly.

"Don't be like that..." I drawl.

"Don't be like that? Seriously. You avoid me for days. Days. After everything I told you." Damon scoffs.

"Come on Day, I just-"

"You're drunk Ellie. You should sleep." He cuts me off and picks me up walking towards his bedroom.

"Dames, I just had to think some things over," I whisper.

"You need to sleep El." He repeats.

"But we need to talk..." I whisper.

"We will. But you need to sleep first." He says as he lays me on his bed.

"Fine." I groan.

"Sleep tight Ellie." He says as he leaves the room.

"Can you stay?"

"What?"

"Stay. Can you?" I ask him.

"Sure." And then he laid beside me and I fell asleep. The next morning though I woke up with a killer headache on top of his chest.

"Fuck." I groan, "Fucking headache."

"Morning to you too." He smirks as I sit up.

"Shh, I need quiet. You talk fucking loud" I groan as I bury my face in the pillow and he laughs. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want." I mutter.

"It wasn't me who drank an entire bottle of bourbon last night." He snorts.

"That wasn't me. That was someone who looks exactly like me and was trying to drown thoughts." I mumble.

"Kitty Kat?" He smirks.

"Nope. Another one. Much more gorgeous. Prettier eyes." I grin.

"What happened between you and Katherine?" He asks.

"I asked her to leave. And she said she would." I shrug.

"And you trust her?"

"Eh. I told her some stuff. She can't be here anyway." I say burying my head deeper in the pillow then I groan and stand up heading to the bathroom, "I'm gonna take a shower."

"I'll join!" He exclaims.

"Uh. No." I shake my head, "We still need to talk. You know, all the emotions and blah. I just need to freshen up."

"Fine. I'll be downstairs." And he goes. So after I showered I grabbed one of his shirts and slipped on underwear. Afterward, I went downstairs where he was already drinking on the couch. It's fucking 10 am.

"Isn't it too early to drink?" I ask as I sit on the opposite couch and he eyes my legs. Perv.

"We are having a talk about emotions and blah." He smirks.

"I'm not really good at this Day. Emotions and blah." I tell him.

"Me neither." He says.

"Drunk you are..." I mutter and he smirks.

"I'm not drunk now."

"No, you're not." I say then I sigh, "Ok, here it goes. Um. In the show."

"The reason why you know everything?"

"That's the one." I nod, "I always liked your character. You were this sarcastic misunderstood guy that the whole world thought was bad."

"I am bad Ellie."

"No. You're not. I'm not saying you're good either" I smirk, and he snorts, "But everyone thought you were bad, so you acted like it. Everyone always put you down and didn't understand. I wanted to be there for you this time. Instead of being a pretentious bitch like the original Elena."

"So you think of me as a character?" He asks bitterly.

"No. I don't think of anyone as a character. This is my life now. Not some show. I just..." I sigh, "Then I got to know you. The real you and not some character in a screen."

"And..."

"And I like you. But I already told you that the other night."

"But..."

"But I don't want to be a rebound Day. I, um, that never ends well." I tell him.

"But I told you. You're not a rebound Ellie." He says as speed vamps to my couch.

"Yeah, but you were drunk and heartbroken..." I sigh.

"But I'm not anymore. And newsflash: I still love you." He whispers.

"Urgh. This is too many emotions." I groan, "Look Day I want this. I do. But you're-" He cuts me off by kissing me. And I kiss him back.

"You're right. Too many emotions." He mutters as he pulls away and I hum in response and kiss him again. And again. Damon's hands were now on my waist as I straddle him. And now we're on a full make-out session on his couch and just like last time, someone walked in. Urgh...

"Oh, God. I did not want to see that." I hear a voice saying.

"Fucking hell..." I groan and then turn to my blondie best friend and say, "What?"

"I was just coming here to look for you actually. We have to get our dresses for the masquerade ball, but then I walked in on something I'd rather erase from my mind." She says.

"Don't fret blondie I can do that for you," Damon smirks as I got off him.

"No, you can't." Caroline smirks back, "Come on Ellie."

"Whyyyy?" I drawl.

"Because," she starts, "We haven't hung out in forever and we need to get those dresses."

"Fine." I sigh, "But you need to buy me ice cream."

"Sure. But you need to get dressed."

"I am dressed," I say and she snorts.

"A t-shirt and underwear don't count."

"She does look good," Damon mutters and I smirk at him.

"Can I witchy witch us out of here?" I ask Care and she nods, "Bye Day!" And we apparate to my room...

๑۩๑