𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 𝙀𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏
ミ★ ( lion and the lamb, act two ) ★彡

Hazel's nightmares had only seem to return by a tenfold with the thoughts of Katherine being in town. She was scared out of her mind just thinking about if Katherine were to hurt anyone she loved just for the sake of it—so much so, that her dream morphed into her own self coming after her. It's a scary thing; being attacked by your own shadow and becoming afraid of yourself. It's even doubled with the way that Hazel was nervous to interact with her own sister just in case it wasn't actually her. Hazel likes to think that she knows Elena to her core to know whether it's her or not, but, with how tricky Katherine is, she might not... and that makes her very nervous.

Hazel's dark circles were apparent despite the large amount of concealer she had put on to cover them up as she entered the Lockwood mansion with her family. The whole town was invited to commemorate the life of Richard Lockwood after he passed in the fire in her family's old building. She wasn't necessarily close to Richard considering he scared her when she was dating Tyler—he was always nice to her, but she heard enough about what he was like to Tyler behind closed doors to not not be afraid of him. Despite that, she felt obligated to come to the wake to pay her respects; she had been essentially part of the family for nearly three years.

"Looks like the whole town has turned out." Jenna comments as she scans the mansion while they approached it, carrying a tray of sympathy casserole, and all the people surrounding the grounds and going inside.

"Yeah. Well, he is—" Hazel mumbles, pausing when she realised she had made a mistake and had to correct herself, "He was the mayor."

Jeremy's face turns sour, "Why don't they save it for the funeral?"

     "That's what people do. The Lockwoods were here for us when we went through this." Jenna pointed out and Hazel bit her lip, thinking back to the time how the Lockwoods were constantly checking in on them. Seeing the looks on her nieces' and nephew's face, Jenna pursed her lips, "It'll be quick; we'll drop off the food and pay our respects and go."

"In and out?" Jeremy's eyes brightened instantly, getting the confirmation that they don't have to spend hours there, "It sounds like a plan." He says, walking straight inside to get a head start so they can go quicker.

Elena's eyes then catch Damon standing by himself, "You guys go ahead." She says and Hazel looks at her cautiously. She doesn't think it's a good idea to speak to him after what he thought happened between them, "I'll be right there, okay?" She assures before walking toward Damon.

Hazel let out a sigh of disdain. She doesn't agree with Elena's infatuation with the older Salvatore brother and their strange relationship that was brewing between them, but unfortunately Elena was free to make her own choices. If that was what she wanted, all she can do is be there for her (even when she knows it'll crash and burn around her). Hazel's eyes blink over towards Jenna, seeing the same disapproving face.

     They quickly spot Carol Lockwood among the guests, greeting them all as they walked in and gave thanks to those that gave her their condolences. Their faces switch immediately as they walk over to the widow, "Hey, Carol." Jenna says with an empathetic tone, to which Carol gave a half smile in return. She had been giving everyone the same look; it's thankful—respectful, but it's also so incredibly numb. There's only so much she can give at this time, "We're so sorry for your loss." Carol nods and pulls Jenna into a hug. They weren't close as if they were friends, but Jenna also grew up with the Lockwood family also and remembers that Carol even babysat her and Miranda when they were young. She was like an aunt to her also, "If there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to come to us."

     "Thank you, Jenna." Carol whispers as she pulls away.

     Hazel also pulls Carol into a hug after. Carol gives her a tight squeeze while they embrace because she appreciates the gesture from the girl she viewed as a daughter, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood." Hazel whispers into the hug.

     "I know..." Carol replies as she pulls away, trying to put on a smile as she touched Hazel's hair, "He loved you a lot, Hazel. He would've appreciated that you came."

     Hazel nods. Richard was always nice and welcoming to her, and he did indeed see her like a daughter when she was dating Tyler. Thinking of Tyler, she realised she couldn't see him, "Where is Tyler?"

"He's upstairs." Carol informs her. He tends to hide out in Richard's office since he found out about the accident. Carol doesn't blame him. She too, would like to stay in there if there weren't hundreds of people in her home.

     Hazel turns to her aunt, "I'm just gonna go check in on him." She tells her and Jenna nodded in understanding. Despite their relationship not being in the best place, Hazel will always have a soft spot for Tyler Lockwood. They were friends first prior to them dating, and Hazel will always hold onto that, no matter what.

     Hazel excused herself from the two women and walked upstairs. There was only two places where Tyler could've been, and it was either his room or his dad's office. Tyler would often pour his heart out to her in his dad's study; there was something about the room that would make him feel compelled to share his deepest, darkest secrets. Hazel couldn't explain why—it was like the office was his safe space or his confession room. Maybe it was because of the way Tyler felt towards his dad that the room was like he was watching over him and he had no choice but to tell the his thoughts there. She knows the Lockwood mansion like the back of her hand. She grew up here. Her and Elena would stay here every Friday night when they were kids while their parents went out for date night and Carol and Richard would babysit them. Then, when her and Tyler were dating, she would be there much more often.

Hazel made her way to Tyler's room, noticing that it was empty. It still looked the same—messy, with clothes everywhere and his bed unmade from when he got out of it earlier that morning. His untouched homework was laid beside where were sketches were on his desk that he didn't often share with anyone else but herself. He was a great artist, but he didn't believe in his potential like she did. Football was where his heart was.

She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair before walking towards the office that was a few rooms down from Tyler's room. She dreaded being in there because often times when Tyler was letting out his deepest, darkest secrets, an argument would ensue. Hazel can't remember what their sixteen year old selves would argue about that was so heated; they hadn't even experienced any real life issues yet, but they argued. A lot.

Like she guessed, she found Tyler in the office. He was seated on the black leather sofa, staring down at the ground while he nursed a glass of his dad's finest scotch from what she could see by the bottle. Richard only pulled that bottle out after a great accomplishment or if he had a particularly rough day at work. He just looked so sad.

"I'm so sorry, Tyler." She says as she approaches him and sits beside him. He doesn't look at her. She can't help but reach for him to pull him into a tight bear hug, to which she feels him welcome instantly and hugs her back just as tightly, "Are you okay?" She asks before clenching her eyes shut. Stupid question, "Sorry, don't answer that. Stupid question—it's a force of habit."

Tyler huffs a laugh at her, but he appreciates her asking. Anyone else who asked that question got an internal eye roll, but with Hazel, his heart swelled, "Better now." He answers her question and Hazel pulls away when she notices the time was right to let go, "Thank you for coming."

"Always, Ty." Hazel says in response, her tone as gentle and genuine as it can get, "I'm always going to be here for you. No matter what."

     "I know." Tyler provides a half smile. Even when they weren't on good terms, he could always count on Hazel Gilbert; and he knows he always can. He then notices her eyes; they're still the eyes he fell in love with, but he can tell that there's something about them that isn't right, "Have you been sleeping?"

     "Have you?" She retorts quickly with a raised eyebrow because he has matching under eyes to her own, indicating he hasn't been sleeping well himself. He chuckles and shakes his head to answer her question, "But, no. Stress has been driving me crazy."

     "Don't worry, you still look beautiful." He tells her and Hazel rolls her eyes, "You should relax more. It'll help you sleep." Tyler scolds. He recalls the way whenever she was stressed after the accident, her night terrors would worsen and she would wake him up in the middle of the night, screaming. He thinks the embarrassment of doing that also lead to her breaking up with him.

     Hazel snorts lightly, "Thanks, Dr. Lockwood." She then nudges her shoulder with him teasingly, "Maybe you should take some of your own advice."

Tyler huffs again and nods in agreement. He swallows the last of the scotch. He looks over at Hazel, "Maybe I will." He says and the two stare at each other for a moment. There's something vulnerable between them and Tyler can't help but feel engulfed by it. So much so, he leans forward to try to kiss her.

     "Oh, woah." Hazel realises as she quickly dodges him and steps away. Tyler looks at her in confusion. Her eyes were wide in bewilderment that that almost happened, "I'm sorry, Tyler. That was not was this was at all. I'm still with Stefan."

     "Really?" He looked further confused. He thought she was single again because of the way she approached him and how he's seen her so-called boyfriend acting recently, "Because I saw him walking around just before, looking really close to Elena."

     Hazel blinks, "What?"

     "Yeah, they went to the backyard and she was being really touchy with him."

     That doesn't sound like Elena, she thinks. Elena wouldn't do that. Not to her.

      Noticing her inner turmoil, Tyler realises he should leave her to work through it. He feels bad because he feels as if he just dropped a nuclear bomb on her and then dipped, but he feels so incredibly uncomfortable and awkward for misreading the situation and trying to kiss her when she wasn't interested, "I'm gonna go..." Tyler trails awkwardly as he stands to his feet, slowly walking towards the door, "I'm really sorry about what just happened—"

      Hazel's eyes clench shut and she holds up a hand to stop him from talking any further, "It's fine." She reassures him, "Consider it forgotten."

     "Friends?" He asks and Hazel opens her eyes again to see his face practically pleading her. He's so worried that he nearly blew up whatever friendship they had left by overstepping a line.

      Hazel nods, "Yeah." She exhales. God, why did she give in so easily? That was so awkward.

      "Thank you." Tyler says breathlessly and exits the room, basically scurrying out with his tail between his legs.

      Hazel ran a hand through her hair. This is why people say it's hard to be friends with an ex-boyfriend, "Okay," She whispers to herself, trying to regain her bearings. She needs to find Elena.

     Hazel waits a few moments before leaving the room. She didn't want to cause any rumours with the chance of someone seeing her and Tyler exiting a room together while they both look frazzled. It would've given the wrong impression that she simply is not in the mood for. She quickly heads downstairs, and as if she was looking for her, she runs into a wide-eyed Bonnie, "Hazel!" She exclaims with relief.

      "What's wrong?" She asks.

      "Come with me." The witch orders, grabbing onto Hazel's wrist and dragging her outside into the backyard.

Bonnie lead Hazel to her boyfriend, who was on a bench, with his shirt half up to show a badly bleeding wound. Hazel's eyes widened in alarm and she ran into him, "Oh, my God! What happened?" She asks in a panic.

"Katherine happened." Stefan answers and Hazel blinks. She was right to not doubt Elena's intentions with her boyfriend, because Elena wouldn't do that to her but Katherine would. But, she's also concerned because there might have been a chance that someone noticed that three of them were walking around. Everyone in town that knows them, knows they don't have a triplet. She can only hope that if someone did notice, that they thought one of them changed quickly like they do in movies.

      Bonnie looked in between the couple and bit her lip. She sensed that they needed to talk, "I'm gonna go get something to clean the wound. I'll be right back." She tells Hazel, who nods appropriately for her help and mouths a thank you.

      Hazel turns back to Stefan, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, "Are you going to be okay?" She asks him, inspecting him entirely, not just the wound.

      "Yeah, it will heal." Stefan reassures her.

      The Gilbert girl gives him a knowing look, "That's not what I meant." Stefan hadn't seen Katherine since the night he turned. He assumed she was dead all these years before finding out that she was supposed to be locked in a tomb. She can only imagine that his head was whirling around, trying to get a wrap on her. The next question was: what did she want?

      "I was trying to figure her out." Stefan says with a sigh, "I was playing along and I let her get to me." Hazel's mouth pinches together in insecurity. What did he mean by that? How did she get to him?

      "Then that means you'll know better if there's a next time." Hazel attempts to assure him. She hopes there isn't a next time, but until they figure out what it is that Katherine wants, she can only assume there will be until she gets it.

     Suddenly, Damon arrives, "I tried to track her but she's gone." He tells his brother. He then notices Stefan's shirt not on properly, "Oooh, cover up, Fabio. We got a crazy ex on the loose." Stefan pulls his shirt down and Damon looks at Hazel, "You better watch out, looks like Katherine is trying to steal your guy."

     Hazel sends him a blank look. If she wasn't already incredibly insecure and concerned about the whole doppelgänger thing, Damon's words just confirmed every doubt she's ever had. Katherine wants Stefan. Does Stefan want Katherine?

      "That's not what's happening." Stefan replies, subtly reassuring his girlfriend that he will never go back to Katherine, no matter how hard she tried.

      "Isn't it?" Damon asks. He's trying to get insider information. He doesn't know what Katherine and Stefan talked about, and he wants to know if there was anything discussed that was anything remotely surrounding that conversation. Call it jealousy and frustration. They were pinned against each other for her love, and he pined after her for decades after it. It's only poetry that it continues on to this day.

      Hazel only purses her lips. She doesn't want to know the answer to that question, "I'm gonna go find Elena. Let me know when you guys are done." She says as she stands to her feet and leaves, not looking back.

     Later that night, Elena exited her shared bathroom and goes into her bedroom. Hazel was already asleep, and Elena was patiently waiting for her to wake up at any moment. She knows she's been through a lot of stress recently with the whole Katherine and Stefan thing, and Elena knows that when Hazel is particularly stressed, that her nightmares return with a tenfold. When she gets to her room, Damon was already sitting on her bed. She's startled by his appearance and grabs onto her chest, "Oh, God, you scared me." She whispered.

     "Just doing my part in the neighborhood watch." He responds sarcastically.

     "Thanks—for, um, for looking out for us." Elena murmurs hesitantly, "For me."

     Damon raises his hand slightly, "That's me, your trusty bodyguard. Calm in crisis."

     Elena then notices the slight slur in his voice and the way his body was swaying ever so slightly, "Have you been drinking?" She asks with her eyes squinted. Damon holds his forefinger and thumb a small distance apart, indicating that he has been drinking a little. She then realises, "And you're upset. That's not a good combination."

      "No, I'm not upset. Upset is an emotion specific to those who care."

     "Come on, Damon." Elena exasperates, "That's a lie. You care."

     Damon looks up at her, "You're surprised that I thought you would kiss me back?" He asks, recalling their earlier conversation at the Lockwood mansion, "You can't imagine that I believed that you would want to?"

     Elena bites her bottom lip, "Damon..."

     "That what we've been doing here means something?" He continues, "You're the liar, Elena. There is something going on between the two of us and you know it." He gets up and walks towards her, "And you're lying to me, and, most of all, you're lying to yourself. I can prove it."

     "No." He quickly grabs her face in his hands and kisses her hard but soft and intensely with passion. Elena is clearly uncomfortable and not wanting the kiss to happen. She pulls away from him, "Damon, don't! What's wrong with you?"

     "Lie about this—"

     "Stop it!" Elena yells, "You're better than this, come on."

      "That's where you're wrong." Damon tries to kiss her again quickly, but Elena is prepared this time and pushes him back.

      "No, no, no, Damon! I care about you. Listen to me, I care about you, "Damon smiles slightly and entwines his hands with hers hoping to hear that he loves him back, "I do, but... I don't love you." She says, withholding a large piece of information because she knew it would make the situation worse. Damon looks really hurt and angry by this and tightens his grip on her arms.

      Jeremy hears the commotion and looks in the doorway, "Elena, what's going on in here?"

     Damon and Elena look at him. Elena pulls her wrists out of Damon's grasp, "Nothing, Jeremy. It's okay, just go back to bed."

     "No, it's not okay, Elena." He looks at Jeremy and then at Elena, "He wants to be a vampire." He rushes at Jeremy and pushes him against the wall.

      "No, Damon, stop it!" Elena yells loudly, causing Hazel to flinch awake in the other room, completely unaware that Damon was choking Jeremy on the other side of her walls. She can hear something happening in Elena's room, and something in her tells her she needs to check it out. She pulls the covers off of her and walks towards Elena's room.

      "You want to shut out the pain?" He asks Jeremy, "It's the easiest thing in the world." He says right as Hazel entered the room to see Damon holding Jeremy in a headlock while Elena looked very panicked, "The part of you that cares just goes away, all you have to do is flip the switch and snap!" He then snaps Jeremy's neck.

     Jeremy falls to the floor, dead. Hazel's eyes widened in shock and a scream rips from her throat, causing the two of them to finally notice her standing there, "No!" Hazel's legs move like they have a mind of their own and she rushes to Jeremy's side, cradling his lifeless body into her arms and cries in horror and anguish. She just watched her baby brother die—just like her parents all over again. Elena kneels down beside them, tears streaming down her face, until she suddenly notices John's magical ring on Jeremy's finger.

     The exact replica of the ring that Alaric Saltzman wears. He isn't permanently dead, "Oh, my God!" She whimpers in relief.

     Hazel was still cradling Jeremy in her arms on the floor by the time Stefan reached the Gilbert residence. He couldn't believe what he had just heard and he wasn't sure how to explain it, "He saw the ring, that's why he did it. He knew." He can only give his brother the benefit of the doubt.

     Elena shakes her head, "He didn't see the ring." She saw the state he was in before it happened. He just saw Jeremy and wanted to make her hurt like he was. He didn't care to think about if his choice would be permanent.

     "It's Katherine." Stefan realised, "She got under his skin. She undid everything that was good about him."

      "There's nothing good about him." Hazel quietly mutters from the floor, seething from Jeremy being harmed, "He never has been. He hurt Caroline, he hurt me, and now he's hurt Jeremy. I've been such a fool for falling for his act. I can't take it anymore." She shakes her head in shame that she even fell for it and began to feel sorry for him. She cared about him like a friend because he tricked her into believing he had changed. She's been an awful person being around him after what he did to Caroline and she regrets every moment—karma had gotten her good, and it got itself in the form of Jeremy getting hurt. "He's decided what he wants. He doesn't want to feel, he wants to be hated, it's just easier that way. He got his wish." Tears stream down her face again as she cries while Elena nods in agreement, "I hate him."

     Stefan kneels down next to her and comforts her, "I know. I know." He kisses her on the shoulder.

     Jeremy suddenly wakes up gasping. Stefan takes his face and looks in his eyes, "Is he okay?" Elena asks, but doesn't receive an answer right away while Jeremy panics in Hazel's arms, "Stefan, is he okay?" She asks a little more forcefully.

     "He's okay." Stefan confirms and the twins sign in relief while Jeremy was still coming to terms with his state, "Shhh, you're okay."

     "He killed me! Damon killed me!"

     Hazel and Elena embraced him with a smile of relief, thanking whatever God was out there that he had that ring on his finger, "It's okay."