𝟖𝟓

a/n: Charlotte's outfit for the first part of the chapter is on the left and the dress she wears for graduation is on the right (with a graduation gown and cap ofc)!

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄━═☆

Over the years, all vampires lost a lot of people they loved and held dearly. It was the price of immortality. Charlotte was a little different though, she didn't have a "over the years", she was rotting in a tomb while all the people she loved presumed her dead. She would do anything to have them back and although she was lucky that not all of them were dead, it hurt the same.

That's why as she stood in front of Kol Mikaelson's unconscious body, she didn't know how to feel. She had to say goodbye and prevent him from seeking revenge because as hurt as she was over losing him, Charlotte wasn't vengeful, and she couldn't let him ruin Elena's last day with her brother no matter what.

Sure, she could stay mad at Elena Gilbert for the rest of their immortal lives but not today or during this absolute miracle.

She watched him patiently as he started to wake up and take in his surroundings, "Good morning. Feeling a little less vengeful?"

"Charlotte."

"Kol," She raised an eyebrow, staring at him warily, "I know how you must be feeling right now, but I just want you to know that—" He cut her off when his body quite literally smashed into hers, pulling her into his arms. She froze in her place. He had been unconscious for a couple of hours, and she ran so many scenarios in her head to be prepared, but that wasn't one of them.

She slowly and hesitantly wrapped her arms around him. Not a word left his mouth or hers as she rested her head against his chest. They couldn't speak. Anything would take them out of this moment, right there when neither of them could process the hell outside.

Part of Charlotte was scared that Kol had gone mad as a side-effect of literal death because that wasn't the Kol who nearly killed Elena last night. That was the getaway Kol, the one she recklessly reached out for when she felt like she had no one and nowhere else to go.

"You are hugging me."

"Yes."

"You just temporarily came back from the dead, and you are hugging me," Charlotte restated, not pulling away from his embrace yet.

"If you want me to let—"

She cut him off, holding on when he tried to pull back, "Don't, no, not yet." Inhaling sharply, she said, "I never thought I would see you again."

"I was there, you know," He revealed as she furrowed her eyebrows together, "You couldn't see me, but I was there...every night, just standing around the corner."

He shook his head, "I couldn't tell what's more messed up, wanting you to stop crying because it physically hurt to see you like that or...soaking in the fact, that I at least have one person that is crying for me."

"Kol...its not worth it," She breathed out, slowly pulling away from him, "Whatever you are planning on doing, its not worth it."

"Yes, it is."

"You died. Can't you just stop for one second and process that?"

He shook his head, a forced laugh escaping him, "I had plenty of time to process that. On the Other Side. Hell of a place, you would never want to be there so try not to die anytime soon."

"Kol, I am being serious right now, so please—"

"So am I," The Mikaelson cut her off, claiming, "Alright, give me one good reason why I should just back off."

"...I am graduating?" Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, sighing, "It's shallow and seems silly compared to what's going on right now, but I showed up, and I did the work, and I want to graduate high school, move on to college, and be a normal person. I want to live. I deserve to live my life without worrying about what the hell you are going to do to my friends."

"They risked unleashing hell on Earth for their own selfish gains, and they don't get to get away with it."

"You are really going to waste your limited time here on revenge?" She scoffed, running a hand over her forehead, "No goodbyes? Nothing?"

"Not that many grievers to say goodbye to, either way," He let out a humorless laugh, "You are the only one who cared...thousand years of family, and they forget me like I was nothing."

"They didn't—"

"I will let you have your graduation. You do deserve it," Kol reached out, running a hand over her cheek affectionately, "That's all I can give you."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte walked out of the Lockwoods' cellar in the woods, where she had had the clever idea of keeping Kol. She pulled out her phone and vamp-sped through the woods as she dialed Bonnie's number.

"How much time do you need for the veil to be back up?"

"I don't know...I hit kind of a snag."

"This is not good," Charlotte huffed out, getting in the car, "Listen, I don't know what Kol is up to, and it's not like I could have kept him locked up forever...I bought us half a day, barely."

Bonnie sighed on the other side of the line, "Okay, that's good. I'm trying to fix it, but I'm running into some trouble. I need to wait until the full moon tonight to have enough power to put the veil back up."

"God...this is really bad. How the hell are we supposed to graduate in the midst of vengeful supernaturals that we sacrificed for our own selfish gains?" Charlotte almost had a stroke as she let that out, mimicking Kol's words.

"Maybe we should just cancel."

"Absolutely not, we are graduating, and we're getting out of here. All of us, we have freaking earned it, Bonnie," She exhaled sharply, "This is not a life. And as soon as we have got the ghost thing figured out, then...we can start to live."

"Yeah," Bonnie replied, skipping a beat before adding, "We will figure it out. It will pass. We have dealt with worse, probably."

"Take care of yourself."

"I will, bye."

✵ ✵ ✵

"Damon, just this once, please," Charlotte practically begged as she descended the stairs of the Boarding House, "Just get the dress on your way back. It will bearly take two minutes. It's my graduation dress, for God's sake!"

She squeezed her eyes shut, drowning in frustration as she added, "I already told you. I have a bunch of things to prepare, and I can't just vamp woosh to get the dress."

The doorbell rang, and she walked out of the kitchen to answer it, "Fine, do whatever you want. But if you don't get it, I will literally hate you till the next time I have a high school graduation."

She hung up just as she swung the door open. Charlotte didn't have time to identify the visitor before he shot her with a bullet that pushed her a couple of steps back from the force of it.

"What the..." She murmured, placing a hand over her abdomen. She could feel the blood soaking through her pink top as she looked up at her shooter, "Who the hell are you?"

"That was for someone else, but I guess you will do," He said as she furrowed her eyebrows together. She was now one hundred percent sure that she had never met this man in her life, "Got a little message for you. Straight from the mouth of the witch Qetsiyah."

After a while, Charlotte sat uncomfortably on the couch, gritting her teeth as she pulled the bullet out, and the, she guessed, vampire hunter ghost commented, "Pretty effective, huh. I borrowed it from my jarhead friend, Connor. You might know him."

"Oh, yeah, I killed him," Charlotte recalled before turning to face him, "However, I didn't do anything to you. Hell, I have never been to that stupid island."

"No, but your friend left me in that well on that stupid island, where I starved to death," He claimed, and Charlotte rolled her eyes, slightly uninterested and dizzy from the bullet, "There I was, all alone on the Other Side, till Qetsiyah found me and reminded me of my supernatural destiny; to cure Silas, and then kill Silas. End of story—"

Suddenly Vaughn gagged and fell to the floor. Stefan stood behind him, the vampire hunter's bloody heart in his fist. Charlotte looked from Vaughn's dead body to Stefan and rose to her feet, "Took you long enough."

✵ ✵ ✵

She took off her top and washed the blood off her skin in the bathroom's mirror. The wound nearly closed off, and Charlotte blamed the slowness of it on not having breakfast just yet. It will fade by the time she is on her way to her Graduation.

She plastered it and pulled a few tissues out to remove the sweat. Stress. It was probably stress. Her first Graduation and all.

"Get the dress. Finish the pedicure. Curl my hair. Find the new pair of heels, and show up," Charlotte recalled her to-do list, sighing before pulling on another top and getting out of the bathroom.

Damon finally did something right and brought the dress over. She reluctantly thanked him and got in her room to change into it. For the most horrifying thing to happen, she bled through the plaster. Why and how? She didn't know.

Charlotte took it off in a haste and realized that the wound was expanding instead of just closing off. Sweat was rising up to her neck as she realized, "It was laced with werewolf venom."

She started panicking and trying her best to take in quick, deep breaths as she repeated, "Positive thinking, positive thinking, I am not dead yet. Positive thinking."

All of the worst scenarios rushed to her head, was she going to graduate through a ton of hallucinations? What if she lashed out as the mayor called her on the stage? What if she went rabid and killed the entire audience? Would she even make it long enough to walk that stage?

A knock on her bedroom's door pulled her out of it, followed by Elena's voice, "Charlotte? Are you in there?"

She ran a hand over her forehead, looking down at the plaster soaked with blood, "Just...wait a minute!"

The brunette vampire pulled the plaster off the ground and ran into the bathroom. She opened up the first aid kit and got a bunch of plasters. She placed them all together over her stomach, in case it leaked again.

She then got out and pulled her dress on. Not caring to fix it or anything, just to have it cover the wound, "Come in!"

"Hey."

Charlotte ran her tongue over her bottom lip, clasping both of her hands and letting them hang in front of her just in case there was any suspicious wrinkle in the dress, "Hi."

"So, I think there's some stuff you and I need to talk about..."

"Yeah...yeah, I know but maybe later—"

Elena interjected, "Charlotte, please."

She clamped her mouth shut, mostly because she didn't know if there will be a later, so it was better to get this out of the way now.

"I messed up. I lied to you and I betrayed you," Elena started, her hands hanging at her sides, "I should have let you in on it. You had every right to at least know, and I didn't respect that. I betrayed your trust in me, and I am sorry."

"It doesn't matter," Charlotte replied, shaking her head, "You're back. So is Jeremy, temporarily. So any time you have right now should be for him."

"Just...just tell me what I need to make it right. I acted recklessly, and I messed up real bad but I am willing to make up for it. So just give me a chance to do that."

"Elena, it doesn't matter."

"Of course, it does. We are—"

Charlotte cut her off, "It doesn't matter because I am dying! So even if we do fix it, there's nothing to look forward to. I am just making sure you don't get your hopes up," She shrugged her shoulders, "I probably won't even make it past the ceremony."

"What...what are you talking about?"

The Bernard pulled up her dress to show off the plasters on her stomach, "The bullet was laced with werewolf venom. Classic Connor move."

"We need Klaus. We need his blood," Elena said, running a hand over her forehead, "Go ahead, call him."

"Elena, Klaus is a thousand miles away. He will never make it here in time, okay? So we have to face the facts. And the facts say, I am dying. I won't have a graduation or a life, for that matter. It will be a sad, painful death, full of heartwrenching hallucinations like Rose's."

"You can't just be okay with that," The Gilbert started freaking out, "There's gotta be something we can do."

"Well, there isn't."

Elena suddenly looked up, "The cure. You can take the cure."

"I wasn't aware that you guy's even had the cure," Charlotte stated, shaking her head, "What would the cure do?"

"If you're human, the werewolf venom won't hurt you."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow hesitantly, "But...but you were supposed to take the cure...," She trailed off, "You can't just give it to me. You want it."

The Gilbert's eyes widened, taken back by the idea that Charlotte would even doubt her like that, "I wouldn't leave you to death just so I could be human."

"And...where is the cure now?"

Elena remembered the most questionable thing that happened just a few minutes ago, "...Damon gave it to Vaughn, and he is taking him to Silas."

"Nice. No human cure, no werewolf bite cure. Best graduation ever."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte sat in the living room after Elena told Stefan about what happened. The doppelganger was pacing the room while discussing with them, mostly Stefan, what to do next.

"We have to do something. If those hunters give the cure to Silas—"

He cut her off, reassuring them, "They're not giving it to Silas. Wherever Damon is taking Vaughn right now, it's to stall, because Damon hasn't had time to bury Silas' body yet," She stopped pacing as he finished, "And that's all you need to know right now."

"Okay, fine. We're stalling the hunters, but Charlotte is still dying!"

"Yup, talk about the walking corpse like she is not with you in the same room," Charlotte commented with a humorless smile on her lips.

"It was one bullet, and it was only laced," He reminded them, taking a look at Charlotte, "You are not sweating excessively—"

"Yet."

"My point is, we still have a little bit of time. We can still contact Klaus, if you want, or wait until Damon comes back with the cure."

"Then it's settled," Jeremy spoke up, "You're going to your graduation," He held Elena's cap and gown in his hands.

"Gradua—no, Jer, I never even sent in my college applications."

"You are a vampire. You can compel anyone, and get into any college," Charlotte pointed out, "How do you think I planned on getting into Yale? With the okay-ish grades?"

Jeremy laughed at that before adding, "Plus, Mom and Dad would kill you if there wasn't a photo of you in your graduation getup."

"Jer, no. Not if you can't be there."

"Lexi'll keep me company," He said, finishing, "You're going."

She finally relented and walked over to him to take her cap and gown, "Let's go graduate."

✵ ✵ ✵

"Hey, remember when I said we can always have an 'eventually'?" Charlotte sprung out her question in Klaus' voicemail, "Well, I am dying. So if I do die, we don't have an eventually. So please, if I was ever an okay friend to you, maybe try to show up and save my life? I would really appreciate it, thanks."

She hung up and straightened out the red graduation gown, looking around and at all of her classmates before spotting Caroline as the blonde waved her over. She walked over quickly, as quickly as she could with her six-inch heels.

"Where is everyone?" Caroline asked just as Bonnie reached them.

"I'm here," Matt came in, greeting as he took in a deep breath. He looked like he had just ran a mile, but everything else was in place.

"Where have you been?"

"Oh, you know, making plans for the summer, dodging death by a vampire hunter."

"Just the usual," Charlotte chuckled, nudging him.

"Where's Elena? We can't do this without her."

Elena arrived just as she finished with Stefan, "I am here," She leaned over to hug Bonnie, "Thank you for today."

"Hey, don't forget about me!" Serena ran right in, "Barely made it," She exhaled sharply, turning to Charlotte, "You look a whole lot taller, it's disturbing."

"Shut up, you wish you could walk in heels this high."

"I can't believe it," Caroline's smile is as bright as ever. She looked over at them, "We're actually all here!" She almost jumped up in excitement, "We are all here together! Bonnie Bennett, are you crying?"

"It's our last hurrah before you guys go off to college."

"If we go—" Elena elbowed Charlotte as the brunette clamped her mouth shut, "Aw!"

"Before we go off to college."

Elena rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "I...kinda sorta missed the deadline. You know, being an emotionless bitch."

"Well, the perks of being a vampire – we can go wherever we wanna go. We can choose our own roommates. We could—we could get a double room!"

Charlotte laughed at that, shaking her head, "God, that would be so messy but so amazing!"

"I'm happy we're all here," Bonnie smiled with tears in her eyes.

"Aw! Group hug!" Caroline jumped up as they all opened up their arms.

"Ah, I don't—I don't hug...," Stefan shook his head, pulling up a face.

Charlotte scoffed, "Yeah, as if," She pulled him in with her, linking their arms together.

Mayor Hopkins opened the ceremony as the students lined up down the stage. Charlotte pulled Stefan aside, "Hey, it's a busy day, but just in case Klaus doesn't make it, or someone loses the cure or whatever, and I don't—"

He shook his head, interjecting, "You will make it. You are fine. You look fine. Okay? You will make it."

She looked up at him and took a deep breath, "Yes, but in case I don't, I want you to know that I wanted to go with you there. To Cape Town. To have that epic summer or whatever," Charlotte said it so casually because part of her didn't want to hope for it so hard and have it ripped away by death.

"You have made your decision?"

"Yes. If I do have another chance at life, and I hope I do. I want us to have another chance at this too. A real chance. One without all of the drama and supernatural hell going on here. One where I would get to...rediscover you...and maybe, hopefully, fall for you all over again."

Feeling like she might have overshared a bit, she shrugged her shoulders, "Obviously, not all the summer would be about us because I plan on seeing a lot of countries already, so maybe a few weeks in that cute cozy home then a mini world tour, I guess."

Charlotte looked up at him. This was getting awkward. He was quiet, too quiet. And like any rational person, she rushed to the worst scenarios; what if—before a complete thought could even form in her head, his lips crashed into hers.

His hands caressed her face as he deepened the kiss. That was really happening. Stefan was kissing her and she was kissing him back. God, if she could ever freeze time. That would be it. That would be the perfect moment. Charlotte wouldn't mind getting stuck in this second forever.

"Charlotte Bernard."

She pulled back, slightly dizzy and high on love, "This is really good. We will get back to it..right away. I just have to go graduate real quick."

Charlotte practically ran up the stairs and onto the stage as her classmates cheered her on. She smiled politely at Mayor Hopkins, shaking his hand, "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

✵ ✵ ✵

After Graduation, like that was their last bit of peace, everything went to hell. Damon got himself shot, twice while stalling Vaughn. Alaric did save him before the third shot, but he was getting worse and worse every second.

Stefan was on the phone with Alaric as he claimed, "I would love nothing more than to get out of here before Vaughn comes back to life, but Damon won't take the cure," He added, "He said Charlotte needs it."

"I will survive the night, he won't," Charlotte replied, hanging up after calling Klaus for, what could be, the hundredth time, "Just shove it down his throat if you have to."

"Let's try calling Klaus again—"

"Stefan, we are past the point of Hail Mary phone calls," Alaric interjected, "What do you want me to do, stand here and watch him die, or force-feed him the cure?" Elena cast Stefan a significant look, but he remained silent, "Stefan?"

Suddenly a high-pitched noise caused the four vampires to clutch their heads in pain. Some girl Charlotte could vividly recognize, and other dead witches approached them.

"Remember us, Charlotte?"

The brunette clutched her head in pain as whatever spell Aja was casting fried her brain. Until suddenly, the pain stopped. She looked up as Aja's headless body fell to the ground.

"There are plenty more of these to go around," Klaus said, turning the graduation cap in his hand, "Who's next? I can do this all day."

Charlotte turned around to see not only Klaus in all his glory, but Lina, too. All dressed up for the occasion, "You didn't really think I would miss your graduation, did you?"

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte stayed back at the football field in front of the commencement stage, all healed up. She was mostly avoiding going back home and having to say her goodbyes to everyone that won't be there after the veil comes back up...for good.

She turned around, hearing footsteps approaching. She had heard him before he even made it onto the field, her instincts were getting better. 10 points to Char.

"So...you made it," Charlotte sighed, stating.

"After that last voicemail about our eventually, it was kind of too late to turn back."

She squeezed her eyes shut, "Ugh, you didn't actually hear all of them, did you?"

"Oh, yes. All forty-seven of them."

Charlotte pursed her lips together, clasping her hands behind her back, "Listen, listen, in my defense, I panicked. And you could have at least sent a text."

"And ruin the surprise?" He gave her one of those smiles. The type of smile you see and wish pictures looked as charming in reality, "Werewolf bite?"

"Bullets laced with werewolf venom," She clarified, shrugging her shoulders, "Hunters are creative," The brunette folded her arms together, "More than four kidnappings, countless near deaths, the hunter's curse, and yet here is my first experience with werewolf venom."

"And hopefully the last one," Klaus added, pulling something from the inside of his coat, "In case it isn't, and for whatever reason, I am not around. You will have this." She looked up at the necklace in his hand, discreetly housing a vial of his blood.

The Bernard girl turned around, and he clasped it around her neck, "And if you ever run out of it, reach out to me."

She looked back at him, her hands caressing the necklace, "I will."

"Now, let's get out of here before twelve angry hybrids decide to pick a fight."

"This place is even creepier at night than the cemetery."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte walked into the Salvatore Boarding House, noticing Alaric and Lexi very intent on something. She furrowed her eyebrows together and turned to Stefan who pointed to his ear.

She focused for a few seconds and scrunched her face up, "We are not eavesdropping on them," She picked up two pillows, throwing one at Alaric and the other at Lexi, "Stop that."

"Ouch!" Lexi hollered out, and Charlotte quickly realized it wasn't because of the throw. Elena just slapped Damon.

"Damn, that was well deserved," Charlotte commented, sitting down on the couch as Alaric proudly owned up to teaching Elena that swing.

"Okay, great fun, but let's stop."

Lexi's lips formed a pout as she looked at Charlotte, "Hey, I'm short on time here. Don't rob me of what little joy I have."

Charlotte parted her lips to reply before Elena walked into the room, "Anyone seen Jeremy?"

"Oh, he went to see Bonnie. He'll be back later," Alaric assured her, awkwardly pausing, "You know, before...well, you know."

"Yeah," She nodded to herself before addressing her petite friend, "Charlotte, can I, um...can I have a moment?"

"Yeah, why not?" Charlotte got out of her chair, and dusted off her dress, choosing to ignore the blood that had dried on her dress sometime after walking off the stage.

The two of them stepped into another room, and Charlotte clasped her hands in front of her, waiting for Elena to start, "I wanted to apologize."

"You already did that earlier."

"It wasn't enough," Elena said, shaking her head, "Honestly, I don't think any apology would ever be enough."

"That's a good start," Charlotte noted, looking down at her feet.

"I ruined everything, and you were still there...You were still there when I could see that you needed your space—"

The Bernard vampire cut her off, "I needed my space, and you needed me, so I was there. That's my choice, wrong or right—I made it. You don't have to apologize for it."

"You didn't give up on me."

"Part of me wanted to."

"But you didn't."

Charlotte ran her tongue over her bottom lip, nodding as she looked up at the doppelganger, "But I didn't."

Elena's heart skipped a beat before holding out her hand, closed-fisted, "Here," Charlotte frowned, not making a move before the Gilbert girl took her hand and placed the cure in it, "It's yours. I want you to have it."

"I can't take that," Charlotte said, shaking her head, "I was against everything that happened in order to get it. You made the sacrifice, you take the cure. Fair and square."

"Charlotte, I will make it. Okay, I will adjust," A small nostalgic smile took over her lips as she stated, "You have wanted this since before we even knew it exists. You want to be human. You love being human. You want your freedom back, and you should have it," She folded her fingers over the cure in Charlotte's hand, "You deserve this and everything you want out of life."

✵ ✵ ✵

She didn't take it. She couldn't. Yes, she wanted to be human, but it didn't feel right, not then. Maybe she will never get another chance, maybe she will, but until it feels right, Charlotte Bernard made the choice of staying a vampire.

"Don't worry, Charlotte, I am not spending the summer with a guy I had just met," The brunette sighed in relief before her niece added, "He is spending the summer with me. We are volunteering in Zimbabwe."

"Serena, that's the same thing."

The younger girl disagreed, scoffing on the other side of the phone call, "Absolutely not, I am taking him. He can't kidnap me if I am the one taking him."

Charlotte inhaled sharply, looking up at Lexi Branson who just shrugged her shoulders with an amused smile on her face, "Okay, just...just stay safe and call every day."

"Will do! Don't miss me too much!"

She rolled her eyes before hanging up, "Teenagers, am I right?"

Lexi sat down, offering the brunette a drink, "Helps take the edge off."

She took it, claiming it would be just this once. Celebrating graduation and all of that, "Shouldn't you have gone with Stefan to bury Silas? And...say your goodbyes."

"I have been with Stefan all day, those last few minutes won't make the biggest difference," The blonde said, downing her drink, "Plus, aren't you enjoying my company?"

Charlotte shook her head, "No, no, I am, I am...," She trailed off, taking a sip of her drink, "It's just that at times like these, I wish any of my dead loved ones had been supernatural...You know the dead family members."

"Trust me, you don't want that for them," Lexi assured her, placing her empty glass on the table, "They are not stuck. They are at peace. Which is everything any dead supernatural has been dreaming off."

She smiled slightly at the idea before looking up at the ceiling, "I hope they are, whatever peace is. I hope they have it."

"And I hope you do, too," Sighing, the vampire looked back down, but Lexi was gone, "Goodbye, Lex."

✵ ✵ ✵

Everything was almost ready. Traveling essentials. Not a clear map in mind, but that was the fun of it. Lina stood next to her, looking at the brunette's almost full suitcase, "So, we are not having hot girl summer?"

"Of course we are, you can video call me anytime, you know I will always answer."

"Yeah, right," She rolled her eyes, "As if you would step out of your paradise to acknowledge us, peasants," She huffed out, "And I don't blame you. You and Stefan, again. And it only took what? A century and a half?"

"Most of which, I was desiccating underground so it doesn't count," Charlotte reminded her, folding another shirt in just for Lina to throw it out, "Hey!"

"That's your seventh shirt, spice up the romantic getaway."

"Lina!"

"It's not like you haven't thought about it already."

She was about to scold her best friend before hearing his car pull up in the driveway, "That's him! Be nice!"

Charlotte walked out of her bedroom quickly as Paulina called out, "Not even a full day, and you are already the hopeless romantic of a girlfriend. Classic Char!"

Ignoring her wonderful totally approving friend, she descended the stairs. Two steps a time. Yup, that was what happiness felt like. Those moments after near the end of the world.

She watched him get out of the car as she got out of the house and walked all the way over to him, bursting with excitement, "Okay, everything is ready, but I think we should leave in the morning, or we can try a plane—or a private jet! You remember that I own an airline, right—"

"Charlotte," He cut her off with one word, and the petite girl looked up at him, her beaming smile still plastered on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Charlotte, I have to leave—"

"Yes, dummy, I know," She rolled her eyes, "I am just walking you through the boring details of our fantastic trip."

"No, there's no our trip," He claimed, and she furrowed her eyebrows together. Was something wrong? Did Damon need them to stay? "There's just me leaving, alone."

"Why? You already dumped Silas' body, right?" She checked, scrunching up her nose, "I mean that piece of stone is not in your trunk still, yeah?"

He paused, nodding, "Yeah, I got rid of him...and on my way there, I did some thinking about Cape Town."

"We don't have to go there right now but I really did want to see that house you got." She wasn't making sense of his words or connecting them just yet. There was her and Stefan. And they were about to have the summer of their lives because they have freaking earned it.

"There's no we," Stefan said, and she took a step back, a whirlwind of overwhelming thoughts and doubts rushing into her mind as he continued, "You were right. It won't work."

"What...what do you mean? What do you mean it won't work?"

"We can't be together because I don't see you the way I see her. I have tried...I have tried to, but I just can't."

Charlotte chuckled humorlessly, shaking her head, "What?"

This was a very cruel joke. Stefan must have some messed-up sense of humor to joke about that. She gave herself a mental note to speak about that with him once he drops that act. These types of jokes brought back very unpleasant memories that are better off buried.

"I had to forget Elena somehow, and I thought...that being with you, would help," Stefan explained, shrugging his shoulders, "It didn't last long enough though. I am sorry I couldn't love you like I love her," He raised his hand to tap her shoulder, and she stepped back again.

Once again, Stefan pursed his lips together and turned his back on her. Leaving her to collect what she could of her heart and try to get up again. She knew how it ends. Of course, she knew. She just forgot how it began.

She placed a hand over her mouth and started laughing. She laughed so hard, her stomach hurt. Her legs gave out under her and she sunk to the ground, laughing once again.

Lina ran downstairs when the hysterical laughter turned into a fit of screams. She placed her hands over her friend's forearms, "Charlotte, what happened?"

"You know...Classic me."

✵ ✵ ✵

A broken vanity and knocked-out perfume bottles later, Charlotte sat on the wooden floor of her room with her knees to her chest. She stared soullessly at the almost packed suitcase on her bed.

"Name a dumb friend you have."

"Char, just listen—"

"Name the dumbest person you know, really. Just spit it out."

Lina inhaled sharply, rubbing her palm over her forehead as Charlotte looked up at the ceiling of her bedroom, "Fine, I will do it for you. It's me. I am the dumbest person, you know...or in the whole world."

"Charlotte—"

"No, this is good. I am accepting that as a fact so I can stop being so offended when somebody points it out," Charlotte said, rising to her feet, "God, I thought he could love me...Like I full-on thought that I could be happy with him again," She chuckled humorlessly, "And that it would never not work out because c'mon...It's Stefan, I know him more than I know me."

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip before reaching behind her neck and unclasping her necklace, "He gave me this for my first birthday since I got back...and I know I downplayed it, but it meant the whole world to me...It wasn't silly. It was hope, it was a small whisper that things are going to be okay..."

"Charlotte, don't make that about him. This was originally your dad's gift to you, and it helps you with anxiety and—"

She threw it out of the open window before Lina could finish her words.

Blinking back, the petite brunette ran her hands over her face, rubbing away her tears, "It's summer. We should get out of town, have fun, you know."

The Gilbert girl nodded slowly, "If that's what you want, sure."

"It is what I want," Charlotte claimed, looking at her suitcase before she kicked it off her bed, "I need a new wardrobe."

✵ ✵ ✵

Off to the sequel we go! Who is excited?