ᴡᴀʏᴡᴀʀᴅ ⤕ ᴛᴠᴅ ³

twenty one

"Don't worry Mrs. Tanner, you're gonna be right as rain in just a few days. Make sure you're getting plenty of liquids and don't keep skipping your meals. Alright? I'll get the nurse to come around with your discharge paperwork in a minute."

She's healthy.

Georgie pushed open the door and reemerged out into the hallway. She stopped briefly to speak to someone just outside Mrs. Tanner's room and Billie took the opportunity to dart out of her sight before she could be spotted. She hadn't tried to compel anyone since losing her eyes, and she wasn't about to do so now with so much at stake.

"Where are you going, Doctor?"

"Home, Betty. Can't spend another minute in this place or I'll combust." Betty laughed lightly and the sound of shuffling fabric reached her ears as Georgie shed her white coat. "Call me if there's an emergency! Otherwise I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright, say hi to Renee for me!" Georgie nodded her head as she disappeared into the staff room. "Will do."

Billie paused her escape. 

Renee. Could that be the partner Ric had told her about? She should leave, Billie thought to herself. She'd already seen all she really needed. Georgie was healthy, happy. She had moved on. If there was even the slightest opportunity for her aunt to discover she'd been lurking around the borders of her life, even for a second, Billie could never forgive herself. It would be the most selfish thing she could possibly do and it had every chance of ruining everything Georgie had worked so hard and so long for.

She wanted to know more. She wanted to meet this Renee, see that she truly made Georgie happy. Billie wasn't sure when the two had met, but it was more than likely that Renee herself had been the reason Georgie was able to readjust so well after losing her niece.

Billie couldn't ruin it. She had to go and there was no other choice, especially not in the state she was in now. 

Harper speared through the hallways without thinking twice of it. Rounding a corner, she sensed someone coming towards her and tried to move out of the way at the same time as the stranger did. The two bumped together, the impact barely phasing Billie's vampiric body, but flooring her counterpart.

"Shit, I'm sorry about that." She apologised immediately, bending down and reaching out until she grasped a woman's shoulders and helped her stand again. "Are you alright?"

The woman chuckled breathily and stood to her feet with Billie's aid. "I'll be fine, thanks. I should apologise really, I was running late, wasn't looking where I was going. Here, you dropped your..." Billie raised a hand absently to her cheeks to find the collision had knocked her glasses to the floor seeing as the stranger was much taller than her. 

The woman cleared her throat awkwardly, evidently thrown off guard by Billie's unsheathed eyes. "Sorry, your glasses. They're not cracked or anything." She reassured. "Here." Billie felt her cold hands placing the glasses into her palm. "Thanks-"

Billie stiffened from head to toe as she sensed her aunt approaching at her back. "Renee!" Georgie called out. "What are you doing here? Dinner's not til' 8?" 

The mystery woman, Renee herself, held up a hand to her aunt. "Just one sec Gigi." She turned back to Billie as she was righting her glasses hurriedly. "Do you need any help getting anywhere in the hospital? I can grab one of the nurses to help if you're not sure where to-"

Billie smiled nervously, both immensely pleased with the character of her aunt's partner, and desperate to leave before Georgie recognised her. She hadn't turned to face her yet, and since their last encounter, Billie's hair had lightened from a dark brunette to a lighter chestnut colour, but Billie wasn't trying to take any chances. One slip-up and it was over. "I'm fine, thank you, you don't need to worry. I really have to go though. Enjoy your date!" She said her words in a hurry and slipped past Renee before Georgie could get any closer and make a connection.

She followed her clairvoyance to the stairwell where she stood behind the closed door and listened again.

"Sorry Georgie, what were you saying?"

Silence met Renee's question and Billie's heart leapt into her throat. She could hear her aunt's heart from here, and it was racing. "Georgie? What's wrong?" Renee prompted.

Georgie was quiet for a few moments before she found her voice again. "Renee, who was that back there?" Her usually honey smooth tone was low and unsteady. 

"I don't know, hun. I bumped into her coming around the corner. She was blind and I didn't even realise, asked if she wanted some help getting around but she just darted out of there. Must know the place like the back of her hand to move that fast. Poor girl, I think she was just embarrassed, I knocked off her sunglasses and her eyes were completely white under 'em."

"Right..." Came the quiet reply. "I just... thought she looked so much like..." Her words trailed off shakily before she changed the subject. "Sorry, baby. I don't mean to scare you. Forget I said anything, I'm okay."

Renee hummed softly. "Okay. Listen, Gigi. If you don't feel like coming out tonight, we can just stay in and have a quiet night together. There's nothing wrong with it."

Georgie laughed. "We do that too often, we're turning into old people. Aren't we always saying we need to go out more?" Their voices were fading out as they began to walk the opposite way.

"Well yeah, but the last time we went out, you forgot the code to the building and we got stranded outside the apartment til' sunrise. And you still went to work like two hours later looking like an actual zombie. It's a bad look!" Renee protested. Billie could hear the smile in her warm voice.

"Oh get over it, you had a good time and you love me." 

Renee giggled, all woes between them long forgiven and forgotten. "Don't rub it in my face won't you."

Georgie's voice fell out of range, but Billie didn't feel disappointed. She left the hospital and climbed back in her car, all with a smile stuck on her that she just couldn't shake off. 

Georgie was happy. Nothing else mattered to her. It was time to go and she could finally do so without worrying about what she was leaving behind in Mystic Falls

Maybe it was dying and coming back, or maybe she was just growing up, but Billie was starting to see things clearer than she ever had before. Her friends were stuck in a loop. One catastrophe that could only be solved by creating another catastrophe. She was tired of it, and they had to be too. Until now, she'd been on the reserve, helping only when asked and looking only when needed. She was ready to leave the loop, and she wasn't going to be leaving alone.

college beating my ass i can't even believe i actually got a chapter out (woohoo right!) i literally have about twenty seconds of free time a week so no meme this time girlies and gents, i hope you'll forgive me 🙏🏽. stem is not for the feint of motherfucking heart 😭😩