❝nothing to say❞
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

CHARLOTTE'S EYES SNAP OPEN IN THE DARKNESS OF HER ROOM. She looks around, rubbing the exhaustion from her vision as she sits up. For a moment, she thinks she sees a shadow of a man near her window, and her stomach drops.

"Damon?" She whispers the vampire's name, watching the shadow freeze, looking over his shoulder towards her.

She throws back her covers, moving to get up from her bed, but he's gone before her feet hit the floor, leaving her window ajar. She scoffs, shaking her head as she stands anyway, seeing the light come on in the hallway outside.

She swings her bedroom door open, squinting at the brightness that greets her, turning to find Elena doing the same.

In unison, the twins turn to look at the man walking up the stairs, and they both make noises of surprise, stopping him in his tracks at the landing.

Alaric looks between them, shirtless and wearing nothing but his boxers, with a carton of ice cream in his hands. "Girls," He clears his throat, shifting awkwardly as they both stare at him.

"Oh, my God," Charlotte says distantly, pure bewilderment in her voice.

"I heard something," Elena provides, a hint of regret in her words.

Alaric breathes out an awkward chuckle, running a hand through his hair as Jenna hops up the stairs, clearly wearing Alaric's shirt. She stops when she sees her nieces standing in their doorways, her pale cheeks immediately turning pink.

"That... might've been us," She trails off, grimacing. "I'm sorry."

Charlotte shakes her head. "Oh, my God,"

"We didn't think anyone else was up."

"But here you are!"

"We were just–"

Charlotte's eyes bounce between her aunt and her history teacher. "Oh, my God,"

Alaric grimaces and sighs, holding the bowl towards the twins. "Chunky Monkey?"

"Oh, my God,"

"Charlotte, stop saying that," Elena shoots her sister an amused look, looking back at her aunt and Alaric.

"Well," Alaric nods to himself, clearing his throat as he walks backwards. "I'm naked. So, I'm gonna go."

He turns, quickly disappearing into Jenna's bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Elena and Charlotte share a look, both stifling laughter as Jenna stops before them.

"I'm really, really sorry, girls,"

They shake their heads, giving her an understanding look. "It's okay, Jenna,"

"I know he's been staying over a lot. Are you– are you sure it's okay?"

Elena slowly nods, pursing her lips. "Seems like things are good,"

Jenna smiles slowly, looking sheepishly happy. "They're extremely good,"

"Then I'm extremely okay with it," Elena reassures her.

Jenna looks to Charlotte, and the older twin just nods, silently confirming Elena's words.

"As long as you're happy, we're happy, Jenna," Charlotte shrugs, pushing her bedroom door open again. "Even if it means I just saw my history teacher half naked eating my ice cream."

Jenna blushes again, waving a hand at Charlotte. "Okay, okay, enough teasing. Go back to bed, girls. I promise we'll be quieter getting our midnight snacks from now on."

The girls nod and dismiss themselves to their rooms, and Charlotte crawls back into her bed, pulling the covers up over her shoulders. She glances at her window again, sighing when she remembers why she'd woken up in the first place.

She hadn't heard from Damon in days, not since the mess in the driveway at the boarding house. She still hadn't told her sister or Cory about any of it, and she could tell it was killing Elena to not know what had Charlotte acting the way she was.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to say anything to anyone. Not just because it wasn't an easy thing to talk about, but because she didn't want to tell people about anything Damon had said in the first place. Despite it all, she was still cradling those precious words, holding them hostage.

She thinks, maybe, if she tells someone, it makes it entirely too real, and she isn't sure if she's ready for it all to be real. Or perhaps she's just not ready to tell them that despite what he said, he doesn't want it to be real.

The less than comforting thought makes her squeeze her eyes shut, and eventually she falls into a fitful sleep once more.

She never notices the things that were taken off her dresser and her nightstand by the person in her room that was decidedly not Damon.

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"Sit still, Lena,"

"I am!"

Charlotte looks up from beneath her lashes to glare at her sister, hovering above her nail with the small brush coated in dark red nail polish to match her own freshly painted nails. "No, you're not. You're wiggling, and I'm gonna mess them up,"

Elena huffs, straightening her fingers out and readjusting her legs on the floor where they're overlapped with Charlotte's. "Fine. You're so bossy when you do this,"

"I'm a professional," Charlotte mutters, moving to drag the brush across her nail, careful not to spread it too far. Just as she sets the brush on Elena's nail, a knock sounds from the front door and she groans loudly, making Elena laugh as she stands up. "I want a refund!"

"I didn't even pay you," Elena laughs, running to the door.

"Yeah, don't even get me started on that. My services aren't free,"

Elena pulls the door open, her grin immediately falling at the sight of Stefan and Damon standing there.

Stefan clears his throat, eyes drifting past his ex-girlfriend to where her sister sits on the living room floor, her gaze sharp as she turns to look at them. "Hey. Uh, can we talk?"

"Why?" Elena and Charlotte's voices overlap, the twins wearing looks of hesitation that make the brothers shift uncomfortably.

Damon's eyes roam over Charlotte's face. "We went to see Katherine,"

Charlotte scoffs quietly, looking away from him to stare down at her nails.

Elena purses her lips, stepping back from the door. "Come in."

Charlotte gets up, setting the nail polish on the coffee table as she walks into the kitchen, Elena and the Salvatores following her in there. She gets the pitcher of lemonade Jenna had made out, and goes for a glass off the shelf, pointedly not speaking to either of the brothers.

Stefan finally breaks the odd, stiff silence, clearing his throat. "So, we, uh, we figured we'd try to get the moonstone from her, since she doesn't have much use for it anymore in the tomb."

Charlotte swallows her gulp of lemonade, giving Stefan a cold, knowing smile. "So, you asked the manipulative, lying bitch to give you something out of the kindness of her heart? I'm sure that went over well."

"She said if we got Bonnie to let her out of the tomb, she'd hand it over and leave Mystic Falls forever."

Elena's brows furrow. "You don't believe her, do you?"

Damon scoffs. "No, of course not. We just want the moonstone."

"According to Rose's friend Slater, there's a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break."

Damon nods at Stefan's words, and Charlotte recalls the phone call she'd been present for in the living room at the boarding house. "No spell, no doppelgänger sacrifice. Ergo, you both live,"

Elena looks between the brothers, a myriad of questions running through her mind. "How do you destroy it?"

"By releasing it from the moonstone,"

"How do you guys even know this is gonna work?"

"'Cause we have a crafty witch on our side," Damon smirked.

Elena purses her lips in realization. "You discussed it with Bonnie,"

Stefan nods. "She agreed to do anything she could to help us."

"Right, because she's kept that promise so many times in the past," Charlotte huffed, ignoring Elena's slightly scolding look, twisted with a confusion at Charlotte's snarky tone.

After a second, Elena looks back at Stefan and Damon. "It's Katherine who has the moonstone, and she's not going to give it to you."

"We're gonna get it from her," Stefan says, some sort of promise in his voice.

"Well, what he means to say is, we will pry it from her cold, dead hand if we have to,"

Stefan doesn't even pretend that Damon's exaggerating. "Bonnie just needs to find a way to release the seal long enough for us to get in, get the moonstone, and get out in time for her to return it."

Charlotte and Elena share a look before they give the brothers nods in response.

"Wow," Elena breathes out. "I mean, it sounds like you guys already have it all planned out."

"Always quick to solve our problems," Charlotte echoes her tone, looking pointedly at Damon.

Damon grimaces and hides it with a smirk. "What can I say? We're pretty awesome,"

"Except for one thing," Elena continues, sighing. "We don't want you to do it."

The brothers slowly look at each other before looking back at the twins, confusion glaring on their faces.

"What are you talking about?" Stefan shakes his head. "We don't have a choice."

"What about Klaus?" Charlotte crosses her arms over her chest, her voice a challenge.

"We'll find him right after we get the moonstone,"

"Is that before or after he kills everyone we care about, including the two of you?" Elena looks between them, brows raised curiously.

Damon's eyes flash with surprise, and he looks at Charlotte who silently dares him to question her in front of their respective siblings.

"Elena, Charlotte," Stefan looks at the twins, sheer confusion shining in his eyes at the stony looks the girls give him. "If we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your lives."

The twins shrug. "Everybody keeps saying that."

Stefan and Damon watch in shocked silence as they turn and walk out of the kitchen, leaving them to share another confused, concerned look that neither of them have any resolution for.

It seems that, yet again, they're left mystified by the thought of Charlotte and Elena making their own decisions.

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Charlotte walks into the Salvatore house quietly, looking around at the empty rooms, devoid of the two vampires she's doing her best to avoid.

Footsteps creak on the stairs and she snaps her head over, seeing Rose walking down them, tying a silk robe around her waist.

"It's very rude to leave a guest in the house with no help finding toiletries,"

At the silence that answers her words, Rose looks up, eyes widening at the sight of her.

"Oh," She presses a hand to her mouth, looking away shyly. "I thought you were... this– this isn't what it looks like."

Charlotte raises a brow, looking uninterested. "I don't actually want to know what it is or isn't. I came to talk to you, anyways."

Rose looks caught off guard but she nods, gesturing behind her shoulders at the second floor. "Then I should... probably get dressed."

Charlotte gives her a dry smile, turning to walk into the sitting room. "You do that."

She leaves Rose to change, taking a seat behind the desk Damon usually occupies. She runs her fingers across the smooth surface, glancing at the old, framed picture on it. It shows her young, undoubtedly human Salvatores, sporting messy, curly hair, and wide, uninhibited smiles that she's never seen on either of them in her time knowing them.

She quickly looks away from the picture, eyes lifting to Rose as she walks into the room, thankfully fully clothed.

"So," The vampire clears her throat, pouring herself a glass of bourbon. "I can't say I'm not surprised that you want to talk to me, considering we haven't been on the best of terms."

"I want to meet this Slater guy that supposedly knows everything about everyone,"

Shock crosses Rose's face and she laughs a bit uncomfortably. "I don't think that's a good idea, Charlotte."

Charlotte shakes her head, leaning back into the chair. "I have a tendency to be too curious for my own good, and I wasn't satisfied with the amount of information he gave you on the phone the other night. And since you and Damon didn't care to try any harder, I figured it's my turn to ask the questions."

Rose scoffs. "Somebody blew up a coffee shop with us in it for trying to talk to him about it,"

"So just don't go to a coffee shop this time," Charlotte says slowly, like Rose is missing the point.

The vampire looks at her in disbelief for a moment before shaking her head. "Why are you coming to me with this?"

"Because you kind of owe me and my sister a favor. Multiple, actually, because you kidnapped both of us, and we both did you a huge favor by not letting Stefan and Damon kill you on sight for said kidnapping. Consider this me cashing in on one of them,"

"Or maybe it's because you know that they wouldn't want you doing this, and their moonstone caper gives you a chance to sneak away. I'm shocked Elena isn't with you– does she even know you're doing this?"

Charlotte leans forward, setting her palms flat on the desk. "I don't need my sister's permission to do anything, let alone Stefan or Damon's."

"They're just trying to protect you,"

"I can't imagine you care much about protecting me, so I'm not sure why you're wasting my time trying to talk me out of this."

Rose crosses the room, standing on the other side of the desk to look down at Charlotte. "What exactly do you hope to achieve by this?"

Charlotte narrows her eyes as she looks up at the vampire. "How would you like to be able to walk during the daylight?"

Something pitiful flashes in Rose's eyes but she quickly stifles it. "I've been a slave to shadows for 500 years, what do you think?"

"I think I know a witch who's capable of giving you what you want, so long as you do the same for me."

Rose clenches her jaw, looking like she wants to keep arguing, but her own desires win out in the end. "Fine. We have a deal."

Charlotte smiles, clasping her hands together. "Great."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Charlotte puffs out a breath as they reach the top of the stairs, coming to a stop in front of the door to the apartment.

Rose bangs her fist on the door, the sound echoing through the stairwell as her voice rings out with it. "Slater? Slater, it's Rose. Open up!"

Silence follows her exclamation, and after a second, the vampire looks at Charlotte apologetically. "He's not home. Sorry,"

Charlotte scoffs, stepping forward. "Don't pull that with me. I didn't come all the way out here for nothing,"

Rose heaves a sigh and grabs the door, breaking it open easily beneath her strength. As soon as the door is open enough, Charlotte steps forward into the apartment, looking around at the industrial space.

"Slater?" Rose's voice echoes through the loft-like place, walking past Charlotte.

Charlotte's head snaps over towards the vampire as she gasps, the sound echoing in the quiet apartment. "I don't think he's gonna be much help,"

Charlotte hurries over to her, letting out a harsh sigh as she immediately turns away from the desiccating body on the floor. She ignores Rose as she drags the body away, putting distance between herself and the corpse as she walks over to the desk crowded with strewn-about papers and computer monitors.

Skimming over the mess, Charlotte sighs. "Looks like whoever blew up the coffee shop found him and killed him for his information."

Rose walks up to Charlotte, looking at her friend's things. "Yeah, probably to stop him from helping people like us. The guy was a vampire almanac– knowing too much information just bit him in the ass."

Charlotte watches as the vampire walks over to the windows, pulling back the curtains. "What are you doing?"

"Tempered glass. U.V. rays can't penetrate," Rose sighs wistfully. "I used to just come here and watch the day."

Charlotte looks back down at the desk, eyes catching on a picture of Slater and a dark-haired girl. Sighing, she drops her animosity for Rose, giving her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry about your friend. Really. I... I know you've lost a lot of them lately, and I, uh–" She laughs wryly. "I don't think my presence is helping much."

Rose just shrugs, looking past Charlotte. "Any luck?"

Charlotte happily takes the subject change for what it is, moving towards one of the monitors. She shakes the mouse connected to it, pursing her lips when a password-protected screen lights up. "We need a password,"

Rose sighs. "Let's just go."

A part of Charlotte wants to argue, but another part wants to leave at the obvious dead end they've wound up at, but she's interrupted before she can do either.

The sound of a doorknob rattling makes both girls stop, and Rose steps away from the windows, holding a hand in her direction. "Stay here,"

The vampire walks past her, approaching a set of doors a few feet away. She opens them slowly and pokes her head in, eyes falling on a crouched figure in the corner. "Alice?"

A hysterical voice answers immediately. "Rose!"

The crying woman stands, running over to Rose, practically throwing herself into the vampire's arms. "He's dead!"

Charlotte's eyes widened and she looked at Rose helplessly. Rose swiped her hand out in a dismissive gesture and Charlotte slowly backed away from the computers, happy to excuse herself to the kitchen, leaving Rose to comfort the woman.

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"How is she?" Charlotte asks Rose quietly as the vampire comes and sits by her, the two women watching Alice wipe every wave of tears away as fast as they come.

"Overreacting, big time."

Charlotte's eyes widen and she turns to give Rose a horrified look. "Her boyfriend was just killed. I think she's as composed as can be, all things considered,"

Rose scoffs, waving her off. "Those tears are for her. She didn't care about Slater,"

Charlotte raises a brow, looking at Rose curiously. "What do you mean?"

"She was only dating him long enough to see if he'd turn her."

Charlotte blinks a few times in disbelief, looking back to the hysterical woman. Pursing her lips, she stands from the bar stool abruptly, earning a questioning look from Rose.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting what I came here for," Charlotte mutters, grabbing a box of tissues off the counter as she walked towards Alice, taking a seat beside her.

Alice takes the offered box of tissues from Charlotte, giving her a pitiful smile. "Thank you," Her eyes roam over Charlotte's face, and she furrows her brows. "You look really familiar. Did you know Slater?"

"No, we have a mutual... friend," Her eyes move to Rose for a second before she looks back to Alice. "Slater was supposed to get me some information that would point me in the direction of a man named Klaus."

Alice huffs out a laugh. "I doubt that Slater had any information about Klaus. He's not someone that wants to be contacted,"

Charlotte nods slowly, glancing at the bank of computers on the desk a few feet away. "Do you know his computer password?"

Alice gives her an incredulous look, and Charlotte looks at her unwaveringly. "Are you seriously asking me that right now? I just saw my boyfriend with a stake through his heart."

"I understand that. I also understand that he has information I need, and you're now the only way to get it. So, do you know his password or not?" Charlotte looks at her expectantly, sighing when she doesn't answer. "Look, Alice, you and I both want things. So, let's say, you help me get what I want, and I'll help you get what you want."

She looks pointedly over to Rose and Alice follows her gaze, eyes lighting up hopefully as Rose gives Charlotte a disbelieving glare.

"Sound good?"

Alice nods quickly, barely waiting a second to get up and go over to Slater's computers, typing in the password quickly. "Someone's been here," She says, frowning. "The hard drive's completely wiped out."

Charlotte and Rose cross the room to stand on either side of Alice at the computer.

"Yeah, probably whoever killed him."

Charlotte clenches her jaw in frustration, but Alice's next words make her stop.

"Lucky for you, Slater was paranoid. Everything's backed up on a remote server."

As Alice focuses on recovering Slater's files, Rose pulls Charlotte back slightly, lowering her voice to a whisper. "You know that she's not going anywhere near my blood, right?"

"You and I know that," Charlotte nods, stepping back towards Alice. "But she doesn't."

"Kristen Stewart," Alice scoffs, oblivious to Charlotte's words. "God, was he obvious."

Eyeing the countless files, Charlotte's face twisted in a frown. "These are all leads to vampires?"

Alice nods, scrolling through them. "Slater was obsessed. Almost as much as me."

"What about that one?" Rose stops Alice's scrolling, pointing to a name on the screen. "Cody Webber. They exchanged dozens of emails about Elijah."

"I could call him," Alice offers.

Charlotte nods, grabbing the discarded cell phone on the desk. "Tell him that I'm trying to send a message to Klaus. The doppelgänger is alive, and she's ready to surrender."

"What?!"

"Oh, my God, I knew I recognized you!"

Charlotte gives her a sarcastic smile, putting the phone in her hand. "Call him, please."

She turns away, walking back to the kitchen where she pulls out her own phone, quickly texting Elena back with some lie about where she is with Cory. Then she quickly texts Cory, telling him to avoid Elena today, and to have her back.

"What are you doing?"

Charlotte looks up from her phone as Rose walks towards her. "I'm texting my sister."

"Don't play dumb," Rose swipes a hand out, glaring at her. "What was that?"

"I'm getting Klaus's attention."

Rose scoffs. "If Klaus knows that you're alive, he'll find you and he'll kill you."

Charlotte doesn't say anything, keeping her eyes on Rose, watching as realization dawns on her. "Which is what you wanted all along,"

"I'm not going to let more people die for me."

The vampire shakes her head, giving her a look that's a mix of frustration and pity. "This is just a suicide mission to sacrifice yourself, isn't it? Just to save everyone else. What about your sister?"

"My sister is all that matters, Rose. She's who I'm doing this for."

Alice walks in, interrupting the tense moment with an oblivious smile. "Cody is on his way and he really wants to meet you."

Charlotte nods giving Rose a passive-aggressive smile. "Great."

Roes closes her eyes and sighs.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Standing by the wall of windows in Slater's apartment, Charlotte's eyes roam over the cars driving by and the few people walking past without a care in the world. She wonders how many of them are aware of the things that walk in the daylight with them, or even the ones that can only come out at night.

Turning her head, her eyes catch on a man standing still, looking up at the windows, directly at her. Recognition flares in her head and she inhales sharply, eyes narrowing in on the familiar man as he takes a step directly towards the building.

Stepping away from the window, she turns away, looking at Rose and Alice waiting aimlessly, unaware of her sudden panic.

Turning to look over her shoulder, she's almost relieved to not see Elijah standing there until she remembers that means he could be anywhere, even though he's supposed to be dead.

Shaking her head, she steps away from the windows completely, going to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She fills it halfway with water from the sink, not caring as she swallows it down in a few gulps, setting the cup on the counter and walking back out into the open area.

Her eyes drift towards Alice, who's given up her hysterical act in favor of examining her nails, and Charlotte rolls her eyes to herself. She freezes, suddenly, feeling the slightest disturbance of air behind her that rustles her hair.

Her eyes fall shut and she clenches her fists at her sides, spinning around to find Damon standing before her, looking down at her with a glare.

She glares right back up at him, but he speaks before she can. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" She echoes back at him, eyes snapping to the other vampire accusingly. "You called him, didn't you?"

Rose sighs. "I'm sorry, Charlotte,"

"I told you to keep this to yourself."

"Yeah, well, she didn't, and it's a good thing, too–"

"Damon Salvatore!"

Charlotte groans at Alice's excited interruption, and Damon rolls his eyes, turning to look at Rose. "Get rid of her."

Alice grins widely, looking him up and down. "No way!"

Rose grimaces, grabbing Alice by the arm and tugging her out of the room, leaving Charlotte and Damon alone.

"Come on, we're leaving."

"Goodbye, then," Charlotte steps past him, dismissing him.

"I said we are leaving," He stops her from walking away from him, grabbing her arm and pulling her back in front of him.

"I'm not going with you."

Damon scoffs, shaking his head. "You do not get to make decisions anymore,"

"That's almost hilarious, Damon, please, tell me when you've ever let me make a decision, I'd love to hear it," She nods at his resounding silence. "That's what I thought. Why don't you see what it actually looks like when I get to make my own decisions?"

"Who's gonna save your life while you're out, making all these big decisions? Hm?"

She huffs out an empty laugh, throwing her hands up exasperatedly. "You're not listening to me, Damon! Klaus is going to kill every single person that I love, and saving my life is not worth that. I don't want to be saved."

Damon's eyes flash with anger and he pushes her in the direction of the door. "Charlotte. Get your ass out the door before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out myself."

She steps closer to him, the tips of her shoes hitting his. "I'm. Not. Leaving."

Damon lunges, grabbing her by the waist and picking her up, and she struggles against him, wriggling in his hold hard enough that he has to put her back on her feet. She stumbles away from him, shoving off his chest as she glares at him, pushing her hair out of her face.

He reaches for her again and she grabs his wrist tightly, swinging her other hand around towards his shoulder to shove him away again. He mirrors her grasp, stopping her with a strong grip around her wrist, and they stare at each other, chests heaving with angry breaths, gazes locked as tight as their holds on one another.

Charlotte wets her lips and clenches her jaw. "I'm not going to fight you, Damon."

"No, you're not."

"So let me go,"

"Not an option."

She grits her teeth and he gives her a dangerously wicked smile. "You're being an ass,"

"And you're being reckless and stupid," He spits the harsh words out, finally releasing his hold on her, making her do the same. "Stay here."

He walks past her without waiting for a response, storming to the bedroom Rose had shut Alice in.

Rose walks out past him, giving Charlotte an apologetic look that she ignores, turning away with a glare. Her gaze goes to the windows again and she loses a few minutes stewing in her anger, only snapped out of it when Damon walks back out.

"Time to go. Alice is soundly sleeping and won't remember a moment of this horribly stupid day,"

Charlotte faces him, opening her mouth to fight, but the front doors burst open and three men walk in, coming to a stop as they look at Charlotte.

"We're here to meet the doppelgänger,"

"Thank you for coming," Charlotte walks forward, stopped by Damon putting a hand on her chest and pushing her back.

He lowers his mouth towards her ear, whispering through gritted teeth. "I will break your arm,"

Charlotte clenches her jaw as Damon looks back at the man standing closest to him. "There's nothing here for you."

One of the vampires standing near the door drops to the ground suddenly, eyes open and dazed, and Charlotte gasps at the sight of Elijah standing in his place, an unbeating heart in his hand.

The vampire drops it to the ground, and the other two turn to face him, looking ready to attack.

Rose seems to realize the sudden threat to her and she disappears just like she did at the house in the woods.

Charlotte nearly flinches when Elijah's gaze shifts to her, unfazed by the supposed threat of Cody and the other vampire.

"I killed you," Damon says, shock clear in his voice. "You were dead."

"For centuries now," Elijah says calmly, glancing back at Cody. "Who are you?"

The man fixes him with a confrontational look. "Who are you?"

"I'm Elijah."

Cody seems to recognize his mistakes immediately, dropping his shoulders and attempting to play off his defensiveness. "We– we were gonna bring her to you. For Klaus. She's the doppelgänger! I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus will want to see her."

Elijah narrows his eyes slightly. "Does anyone else know you're here?"

"No,"

"Well, then, you have been incredibly helpful."

Elijah moves swiftly, ripping out both vampires' hearts in the blink of an eye. He drops their hearts just as carelessly as he had the first one, and just as Damon steps in front of Charlotte, preparing for a fight, Elijah disappears from the apartment without a single glance in their direction.

Charlotte and Damon remain in the apartment, attempting to gather their wits after the seconds-long massacre.

There's something to be said about the fact that even after everything they've dealt with, they can still be surprised.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Thanks for the ride."

Damon sighs, walking up the porch steps behind Charlotte. "Well, your ride left you. I didn't want to leave you stranded."

"Yeah, well, I'm not surprised. She's been running for 500 years, why stop now?"

Damon nods in agreement, eyes searching her face for something she won't give him.

Charlotte swallows, looking away from him as something close to guilt washes over her. "Why– why did Elijah kill those vampires and let us go? It doesn't make sense."

"If I had a dollar for every time some evil vampire surprised me,"

Charlotte nods, unsatisfied with the answer despite knowing he couldn't give her a real one anyways because he knows as much as she does. She turns towards the front door, reaching for the handle, but Damon stops her, pulling her by the arm to make her face him again.

"What do you did today was incredibly stupid," He says quietly, something closer to hurt in his voice this time instead of anger. "And you're lucky I'm not going to tell anyone else about it."

She scoffs, feeling stupid for thinking he wouldn't bring it up again. "You're not going to get an apology from me. My only mistake was getting caught."

"Charlotte, you can't just do that to us. What would Elena think, huh? Or Jeremy? Or me?"

She steps out of his hold again, ignoring the burn of tears that grows behind her eyes. "I've only ever thanked you for saving my life. I don't know why you get to be the hypocrite when I try to do the same for you."

They stare each other down for a moment, caught in yet another stalemate, both of them feeling like they're on uneven ground with nothing to say to each other.

Charlotte sighs, breaking the eye contact. "Goodnight, Damon."

Just as she pushes at the door, it's pulled open from the inside, and she stops short at the sight of Jeremy standing there with a solemn look, Elena in front of him with tears in her eyes.

Charlotte's stomach drops and she steps forward, looking between them. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Jeremy sighs, looking at Damon. "It's Stefan."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Elena, stop!"

Charlotte's shoes scuff on the dirt floor of the tomb as she chases after Elena, Damon following close behind.

"Stefan! Stefan!"

Charlotte grabs Elena's shirt, twisting the fabric in her grip as she pulls Elena away from the entrance of the tomb, not letting her step over the barrier. "Don't even think about it, Elena!"

"Stefan's in there, Charlie," Elena struggles against her sister's hold, shooting a glare at her and Damon. "How could you let this happen?"

Damon scoffs incredulously. "Excuse me? I was too busy saving–"

"Enough!" Charlotte cuts him off, glaring at him pointedly before pushing her sister away from the entrance, standing in front of it to block it off. "Enough, Elena!"

"You shouldn't have gone after the moonstone in the first place!" She ignores Charlotte, focusing her hurricane of emotions onto Damon.

"It was the right call, Elena,"

"The right call? How was any of this the right call?" She swipes her hand out in a broad gesture, her voice bouncing off the walls of the cave. She turns to look at Charlotte again, looking past her into the dark tunnel. "Let me in there, Charlotte."

"Absolutely not," Charlotte grits out, keeping her stance firm as Elena steps towards her. "I will wring your neck if you try to go in there, Elena. Do not test me."

Elena grinds her teeth together, glaring at her sister for another second before she turns around and stomps back out of the tomb, Charlotte following closely after her, their continued argument echoing down to Damon's ears as he steps up to the entrance, watching his brother emerge from the shadows.

"Of all the idiot plans, Stefan,"

"Yeah,"

Damon bites his tongue, giving his brother a sympathetic look. "I'll find a way to get you out."

"Ah, it's alright. I'll handle myself," Stefan waves him off, attempting nonchalance. "Bonnie has the moonstone. Work with her. Try to figure out how to de-spell it."

"You martyr yourself in a tomb and I get partnered with a semi-competent witch. Wonderful."

Stefan smiles wryly for a second before it falls. "Keep Elena away from here."

"Yeah, 'cause that'll be easy. I know you just heard all of that."

"Promise me," Stefan says, ignoring the sarcasm. "No matter what happens, you'll protect her."

Damon nods slowly, stepping away from the entrance. "Promise."

Stefan watches his brother disappear, letting out a long sigh when he feels Katherine walk up behind him.

"That right there was the biggest mistake you've ever made."

Stefan remains silent as he walks past her into the tomb, knowing that for all he hated to admit it, Katherine was right. He knew Damon would keep his promise, but it would only extend so far. His brother would always pick Charlotte over her, over anyone else, even if it meant Elena paid the price.

Stefan knew that like he knew the air in his lungs. He could only hope that Charlotte did, too, and that she would do anything to save her sister, because Damon wouldn't.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note; charlotte ur not being very sunshine right now (she is severely mentally ill) 

edited and published; 7.10.24.