𝟖𝟒

a/n: Lottie's outfit for the chapter is above!

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑━═☆

"And we got those mini little cupcakes that taste like heaven," Serena said, sighing dreamily, "Best week and a half of my life. He just treated the whole thing as a casual trip or whatever but yes, it was perfect."

Charlotte smiled, stamping another letter of Caroline's as the blonde commented, "Okay but like, petition for all guys to be like Alec. Drama-free and pays for trips."

"Yeah and doesn't do relationships but somehow was born for it," She huffed out before retracting, "I am not complaining though. I like casual. I can do casual."

"Yes, you and casual are soulmates," Charlotte nodded, in support.

The Forbes turned to Elena, asking, "Stamp, please," She tore it off and gave it to her, "Thank you."

"You don't have to pretend to be nice to me," Elena sighed, stating, "I know this is just a ploy to keep me distracted."

Serena raised her eyebrows, feigning offense, "Wait, so my romantic stories are not entertaining you enough?"

Elena rolled her eyes at that, sighing heavily. She was secretly thankful that Serena got back when she did. Out of everyone Elena knew, Serena was the only one she could actually look at and not be overwhelmed with guilt, considering she was away when everything went down.

"You two are not writing anything?" Caroline asked the Bernard girls as they both shrugged.

"I don't have any family other than miss Charlotte right here...well, I do. I just don't think I want my mom to be there when I am graduating," Serena claimed, folding her arms over the table, "Plus, Lina and Angie have made some very generous donations to my bank account. So I have got it covered from here."

"Same. My heroes," Charlotte sighed, placing a hand on her chest dramatically.

"How are you already done?" The Forbes turned to Elena, "I'm only on my second batch."

She held up a single letter, revealing, "We have family friends in Denver. Other than that, no one cares that I'm graduating and, to be honest, neither do I."

Caroline rolled her eyes, dismissing, "I know that's how you feel now, but once you get through this hating Katherine phase—"

Charlotte squeezed her eyes shut as Caroline said the name of she who shall not be named—at least for the meantime, "Wait, do you know where Katherine is?"

"No. Why would I know where she is?"

"Yeah, but, if you did, you would tell me," Elena checked before turning to Charlotte and Serena, "Right?" Charlotte scoffed as the doppelganger raised an eyebrow, "Do we have a problem?"

"Sorry, I don't feel obligated to help you get revenge."

She reached over, grabbing Charlotte's hand with ferocity, "Charlotte, listen to me, if you know where Katherine is then you have to tell me."

"I don't and if I did, I wouldn't tell you," Charlotte curled her other hand around Elena's wrist before taking it off of her, "Because honestly I don't care about the stuff you have to do to stop the grieve from getting to you. So just keep your freaking space, Elena."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte picked up her lemonade and sat down on a bar stool beside Caroline. Rebekah was hanging around the bar with Matt behind it. Elena threw darts across the room with Serena ranting about her vacation with Alec and receiving a comment every few minutes.

"Is it supposed to rain tonight?" Caroline questioned aloud.

Rebekah raised an eyebrow, "Do I look like a meteorologist?"

The younger blonde gave her an exasperated look before looking over at Elena, "Well, someone needs to do something, before she explodes."

"I got this," Rebekah said, taking a bottle of liquor and a shot glass.

"That's a bad idea," Charlotte commented as the Mikaelson walked over to Elena.

"Drink. You're putting everyone on edge."

Elena tossed the shot back before placing the glass on the table and resuming with throwing darts. Rebekah looked back over at Charlotte and Caroline, and the latter shrugged, "So, what's the deal? I'm new to this whole emotional switch situation."

"It's not complicated. See that dartboard?" She lined up her shot, "All I can picture is Katherine's face," She threw a dart forcefully and hit the bullseye.

Rebekah nodded to herself, stating, "So your emotions are on, they're just dialed to rage."

"Look, Rebekah, I get that we had our Thelma and Louise thing back when I had my humanity off," Elena sighed, turning to the blonde as one would turn to a kid that they are fed up with, "But let me make one thing clear: we're not friends."

"Okay," She uttered.

"And the rest of us?" Caroline asked, joining them, "Are we still friends? All those things you said when your humanity was off—is that how you really feel?"

"Caroline, I really don't feel like going down memory lane."

"I really don't think you have a choice," Charlotte claimed, exhaling sharply, "The past few days have been hell for us because of you, and the minute you get back, all you can see is vengeance that you won't even be able to acquire."

"You are angry with me, it's not just about Katherine." Elena realized, shaking her head, "You didn't say that last night."

"I didn't think I could!" The petite brunette scoffed out, unfolding her arms, "Because how can I be mad at you when you lost your brother!"

"So you are angry."

"Yes, Elena, I am angry," She claimed, looking up at the Gilbert, "I am angry that I wasn't allowed to be angry. You lied to me, and you killed my friend."

She walked over to retrieve her darts, and the air was full of tension as she collected her thoughts, "If you're waiting for an apology, you're not gonna get one," Elena held back from throwing the dart as she said, "I can't let myself feel bad, because if I feel bad, then I feel everything—"

The Bernard interjected, "I don't want an apology. It won't be enough. It won't bring him back."

"Then what do you want?"

Charlotte parted her lips, hesitating as she said, "I want to erase that moment from my head. I want to forget that I ever saw you and Jeremy kill him. I want to be able to forgive you, but I can't."

Elena gave in and turned to look at Charlotte, and before she could utter any other word, the lights went out throughout the restaurant. Outside, the wind was too strong, it was blowing debris through the air, and the sounds of heavy objects falling, and breaking were heard nearby.

Charlotte shrieked out when someone grabbed her hand and pulled her aside in the darkness, but she sighed in relief after hearing the familiar voice of Caroline, "Come on, we need to go to the school. Stefan and Damon are there."

"Why do we need to go?" Charlotte heard Elena questioning in skepticism before Caroline answered, "They are tracking Katherine."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte walked out of Mystic Falls High School with Elena as Damon and Stefan parked outside. She was oddly quiet after Caroline revealed what the Salvatores were doing. Why would they be tracking Katherine when neither of them was supportive of Elena's plans?

The winds were still blowing fiercely as they met with them in the school's parking, "Where's Caroline?" Stefan has to shout over the wind for them to hear him.

"Inside looking for Bonnie," Elena said, shouting back, "I think we should split up. Damon and I can look outside while you two look inside with Caroline."

"All right, let us know if you find anything."

Stefan made his way into the school, shortly followed by Charlotte who wasted no time in asking as soon as they stepped inside, "Why are you tracking Katherine?"

"What?"

"Katherine. Why are you tracking her?" She questioned again, striding forward and checking the first classroom on her right, "I thought we were done with this."

"And we are."

Charlotte exhaled sharply before turning to face him, "Then why are you playing dumb?" She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, "I want the truth. Now."

"The truth is I don't know what the hell you are talking about, Charlotte."

"Stop that. Caroline told me everything," She said, walking past him and out of the classroom, "I don't know what you think is gonna happen if Elena goes through with this and kills Katherine but you should just stop."

Stefan reached for her arm and turned her around to face him, "What exactly did Caroline tell you?"

She furrowed her eyebrows together, only now taking notice of the confusion on his face. A part of her was starting to believe that he truly had no idea what she was talking about. Charlotte sighed, about to explain before they heard a sound near the cafeteria.

They let go of each other, moving quickly to the cafeteria. Stefan stepped in first with a flashlight, spotting Caroline, "Any luck?"

The blonde shook her head, "I searched the whole school. She should be here."

The noise of something falling over broke the silence, and they turned toward it. "What was that?" Caroline breathed out.

Charlotte walked over to the kitchens cautiously, followed by Stefan and Caroline. She approached the freezer and opened it to reveal a bag of ice, which started dripping onto the floor.

"Hm. Ice is melting."

Charlotte closed the freezer door as Caroline ran her hands over her face in frustration, "Ugh. It just doesn't make any sense. This is the center of the triangle," She noted, "If she's gonna do the spell, she has to do it here. This is where they should be."

"Actually, I think we're in the right place...," Stefan trailed off, shining the flashlight onto the floor, where the water from the melting ice was flowing down a drain, "...just the wrong elevation."

✵ ✵ ✵

"If I remember correctly, I think there's an entrance in the basement," Damon told them over the phone, that was on speaker, as they were still outside the school.

"Well, where's the basement?" Charlotte asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Elena spoke loud enough for them to hear her over the wind outside, "Off the boiler room."

"You hear that?"

"Yeah, we will meet you there," Stefan answered his brother before hanging up.

The three vampires start their journey to the basement quietly as Charlotte took the flashlight from Stefan and led the way there and off the boiler room.

"Caroline," Charlotte started before inquiring, "Who told you Stefan and Damon were tracking Katherine?"

"What do you mean who told me?" She forced a chuckle, shaking her head, "That is what they would be doing for Elena, right?"

"We never said that, Caroline—"

"What is that sound?" Charlotte spoke up, interjecting, and their ears perked up, hearing noises from the chamber. She rushed inside to find Bonnie writhing on the ground, gasping and yelling in pain.

The Bernard knelt beside her, turning her around. Her eyebrows creased with worry as Bonnie's face burned, and she muttered, "Katherine. Find Katherine. We're linked."

"Then unlink her!" Caroline said before turning to Stefan, "Go, I'll stay with Bonnie." The Salvatore left the chamber as Caroline knelt down next to Charlotte, "You too, he will need help holding her back."

"But—"

"Charlotte, quickly! She is dying!"

Charlotte looked from a writhing Bonnie to Caroline hesitantly before getting up and running out of the cave. It didn't take that long to find them right in the boiler room as Stefan pulled Elena away from Katherine and pinned her to the floor.

"Thanks for the save, handsome," Katherine smiled, backing out of the room and colliding with Charlotte, "A little too late, Char?"

"Just get out of here, Katherine."

"A please would have been nice," The older doppelganger shrugged her shoulders, walking past Charlotte and out of the room.

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte offered a hand to Stefan, helping him up as he finally let go of Elena when Katherine was far enough. "How could you save her?" Elena scoffed, turning to them, "She was as good as dead."

"Yeah, and so was Bonnie," He said, dusting himself off, "Bonnie used a spell to link herself to Katherine, so if you killed her, Bonnie would be dead, too."

"How do you know that?" She questioned, still skeptical of them.

"Because we saw her, Elena," Charlotte stated, moving to stand in front of her as she repeated slowly, "You almost killed Bonnie, could you even let that sink in?"

Elena shook her head, "I don't believe you."

"Really?"

"You never wanted me to kill Katherine," Elena nodded to herself, saying, "Why are you protecting her, huh? Is she back in your good graces?"

Charlotte laughed humorlessly, "Are you even hearing yourself right now? You are seriously going crazy."

The Gilbert stepped forward, murmuring, "Or are you really still that dumb to feel bad for her?"

Charlotte sucked in a deep breath before Stefan cut in, "This isn't even about Katherine, this is about Jeremy," He claimed, "What, you think that killing her will take all that pain away? It won't."

"Oh, but beating up cinder blocks will?"

"No, it's a distraction," Charlotte huffed out, "Just like killing Katherine, just like turning your emotions off. You can't skip this, Elena. You need to face it. You lost your brother and it hurts so for God's sake, just be hurt. There is no loophole or painless paths."

"So there's no hope? You're saying I'm hopeless?"

"What I am saying is that you are just trying to fill the void when deep down, you know that it will never be filled. Jeremy died. It sucks. It's hell even," Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "Still, you need to face that grief. Distractions only delay the inevitable."

Elena shook her head, running her hands over her face, "Stop it, stop trying to help me when you can't even stand to look at me!"

She parted her lips, looking up at Elena before Stefan spoke up, "I think you should go back home."

The doppelganger walked past the two, saying, "I think I should just go."

Charlotte breathed out slowly, shaking her head, "She can't be alone right now."

"I don't think she wants you there..."

"I don't think I want to be there either," She replied slowly and before she could say anything else, her phone rang in her back pocket.

She got it out, swiping across the screen to answer, "Hello?"

"Charlotte."

"Alaric?"

✵ ✵ ✵

Bonnie dropped the veil. All dead supernaturals were temporarily alive inside the Expression triangle. All supernaturals including a very much vengeful Kol Mikaelson. Charlotte told Stefan to find Bonnie with Damon as it turned out Silas was disguised as Caroline all along.

She knew that Elena wouldn't be at home, and her better instincts told her that the cemetery would be the right guess. She ran inside to the unbelievable scene in front of her. Jeremy stood in front of Kol, pointing his crossbow at him.

"Jeremy Gilbert...Welcome back," Kol chuckled, and it felt so familiar that it sent a chill through her bones, but it didn't last nearly long enough, "Now, what's the saying? 'Kill me once, shame on you. Kill me twice, shame on—"

"Me." Charlotte finished as Kol's body dropped to the ground after she snapped his neck.

She looked up at Jeremy for a mere second before her eyes trailed over to Elena, and he ran to her, "Elena!" She took her hand off the ground and placed it on Jeremy's arm, despite her weakness.

"Hey," Her brother greeted casually, and she scrambled up and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing.

Charlotte inhaled deeply and turned her gaze away from them to an unconscious Kol Mikaelson at her feet.

✵ ✵ ✵

Sometime later, Bonnie was talking to Damon, Stefan, and Charlotte after successfully turning Silas back to stone, "You need to get rid of Silas' body."

"Well, there's a slight problem, Medusa," Damon started, bringing their attention to, "Even though you turned him into stone, if he gets one more drop of blood he's back to his old mind tricks."

"All right, so let's do what we should've done to Klaus—let's drop his body in the middle of the ocean."

Elena approached them, calling out, "Bonnie?" She looked out for her, "I don't know what to say."

Bonnie shook her head, dismissing it, "You don't have to say anything."

"But I was so horrible to you."

"You weren't you," The Bennett excused, claiming "I know what that's like. I wasn't me for a long time. We can talk about that later," She smiled, looking back at Jeremy who came up behind his sister, "You've got some catching up to do."

"Thank you, Bonnie."

"I'll give you guys as much time as I can," She said, embracing Jeremy before quickly parting, "But I have to go put the veil back up."

Bonnie left as Elena turned to look at Charlotte, "I should, ah, make sure Kol's body is somewhere safe until the veil goes back up...and you know, say goodbye."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow, looking at the Bernard, "Forgetting someone?"

She shook her head with a small smile on her lips, "I couldn't even if I wanted to," Charlotte pulled the little Gilbert into her arms, "Ugh, I didn't know I could miss someone this much."

She held on to him for a while, resting her head on his shoulder, "This isn't fair."

"I know," Jeremy sighed as she pulled back.

Charlotte patted his arm before shifting her gaze to Elena's, "We will talk later...just don't waste this chance."

"There isn't enough time..."

"We both know it'll never be enough," The petite brunette pursed her lips together, "But we are so lucky that we get to do this. Not everyone can."

✵ ✵ ✵

next chapter is the last chapter in this book, AHHHHH

then we move on to the sequel!!!