ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ⇴ ᴛᴠᴅ ² ✓

eighteen

Billie watched tiredly as Klaus eventually clapped his hands together, climbing out of her booth  to leave. Her eyes drooped and her head was a pounding mess. She looked at the plate in front of where he'd been sitting, originally her food and rolled her eyes slouching back into her seat.

He'd sat with her for a full hour while she called Mrs. Lockwood, booked a band and argued with the keg guy for twenty minutes. Watching him leave, knowing that after tonight, after he died, she could finally live her life again, made Billie feel some odd type of way.

Somehow, she'd grown an attachment to the hybrid, but she knew it was ridiculous. She hated him more than she'd ever hated anybody before. He killed Alex, ruined Stefan's life. He daggered his siblings instead of talking to them and he was just an all around horrible person. Billie righteously ignored the stabbing pain of deceit in her chest.

Even with the way she felt about him, what he'd done to her and countless others in his thousand years, it didn't feel right doing it the way they were. Getting Rebekah to side with their abusive father against Klaus and then daggering her, tricking him into a feeling of safety. Billie had to admit, it was a little cold.

After a moment where she simply sat still, drowning in her own thoughts, Billie pulled out her phone, bringing it to her ear as it rang. She hadn't had the chance to notify the others of Klaus' arrival back in town and she couldn't wait too long doing nothing. 

So with a purse of her lips and a tired, heavy sigh, Billie called Elena begrudgingly, the borderline suicidal doppelganger with a magnet for danger.

⇴

"I don't even go here anymore." Billie complained fruitlessly as Bonnie dragged her into the party she'd planned.

She chuckled softly, not letting up. "It's homecoming! Granted it's not everything we thought it would be... still." Bonnie stopped her forceful escorting for a second, turning around to face the clairvoyant. "You can come back you know... after this is over, finish senior year." Bonnie reassured her and Billie sighed, contemplating her words thoughtfully.

In all honesty, she'd never thought about coming back to school, it almost felt like she was too old to do that again, but she wasn't. Billie was still just a kid. So she beamed to her friend, stepping forward to spontaneously wrap her arms around her, laughing with the relief of knowing after tonight, she could finally be free of the hybrid, despite her conflicting feelings.

"I missed you Bonnie." She admitted sincerely and the witch laughed happily, reciprocating the gesture with ease. "Yeah I missed you too."

Billie pulled away suddenly, casting her eyes to the Lockwood mansion brimming with dancing teenagers, catching Bonnie's hand as they walked to join the party. They grabbed a drink together, the clairvoyant running her eyes around her for any threats every few paranoid seconds, something Bonnie quickly noticed, but didn't comment on.

"You know, after this, I'm leaving." Billie introduced with a bright smile, not fully aware of what she'd said as her drink started seeping into her. Bonnie flashed towards her in alarm and Billie widened her eyes, revising her words.

"I mean on a trip." She clarified, laughing as she watched the witch heave a sigh of relief. "I thought you would have had enough of trips after this summer." Bonnie sipped at her non-alcoholic punch, too anxious to fully indulge.

"Yeah, but it'll be different this time." The desperate conviction in her tone wasn't caught thankfully and Billie quickly cleared her throat of it. "I was gonna go alone, but that doesn't sound as fun." She smiled suggestively at Bonnie and it took her a second to realise what she was asking.

She pointed a finger at herself incredulously. "What, me? What about school?" She gestured around like the idea was unthinkable. Billie rolled her glittering eyes at the words, nudging the witch playfully. "Oh come on Bon, you're in senior year, you're allowed to enjoy it you know."

Bonnie looked around her for a moment, before her chocolate eyes landed on her fruity drink. "Yeah, maybe... I think we all need it." She sipped from her cup, watching Billie's face light up as she half agreed.

"Perfect, I believe our first stop, rightfully, should be Disneyland."

⇴

Somewhere along the way, Billie had separated from the witch and was in the Lockwood's front long, dancing in a crowd of strangers to the band she'd picked. Billie'd had enough to get anyone even a little drunk, but it seemed her tolerance had skyrocketed as of late and she found herself, annoyingly still pretty sober.

She hadn't noticed at first, because of the plethora of strobe lights, but her vision had started pulsing with shadows. Upon her slow realisation, she immediately stopped dancing, standing dead still in the overwhelming crowd, eyes jumping up and down around her.

Following the concentration of her gifts, she found Stefan talking with Klaus, her breath leaving her for a short second at the sight of them both again. She was uncomfortable, to say the least and her heart beat a little faster, in that anxious way that made her wish she hadn't turned into such a heavyweight.

Over their shared time, Billie had accustomed to the constant darkness that wrapped around the hybrid, so much so that eventually it had begun to disappear, realising that the clairvoyant had no choice and would continue to associate herself with what was clearly a bad decision.

But tonight, the smoke was renewed, and not only did it cover Klaus, but also Stefan. She quickly averted her eyes before they spotted her, worming through the sea of bodies to make a phone call.

As soon as she was clear, Billie pulled out her phone, dialling the Salvatore that had not yet arrived with the guest of honour.

Immediately after he picked up, Billie cut straight to the chase, eyes flitting nervously back and forth before she spoke. 

"Something's wrong."