𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 1 ♡︎

She pulls her phone out of her purse and looks at the name on her screen. A frown immediately appears on her face. That is not something she expected. Curious, she answers:

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Stefan, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I... Where are you? Are you still in the country?"

Her mind works rapidly, trying to see if there's a hidden agenda behind this question. Finally, she settles for a non-committedly "maybe".

"Katherine..."

He sounds exhausted, and somehow it surprises her.

"What? Why are you calling me, Stefan? Are you compelled by Klaus again? Does he wish to know where I am?"

"I'm not compelled by anyone, and I doubt you're even on Klaus' mind right now. I just... I needed to talk to someone."

"You have plenty of friends in Mystic Falls, you have Damon and your precious Elena, why don't you talk to one of them?"

She hears him sigh at the other end of the line and maybe-just maybe-it is more serious than what she thinks. And she's curious. She wants to know.

"What is it, Stefan?"

"Elena and I broke up."

Katherine stops dead in her tracks.

"Say that again? Little Miss Perfect is no longer your girlfriend? What happened?"

"Ever since she turned, I felt like there w-"

"Wow hey wait here! What do you mean she turned?"

"Damon didn't tell you? I... I let her die. It's a long story, really."

"Make it short."

"If Klaus dies; we all die. And for a moment, we thought he was dead. Elena was in Matt's car with him. They were coming back to say goodbye to us because we believed we were going to die. Rebekah... She got mad, and she stood in the middle of the road, on the Wickery Bridge. Matt tried to avoid her and in doing so... They went over the bridge. I ran as fast as I could and then... She asked me to save him. So I did. But when I got back to her, it was too late."

"She died."

"And she had vampire blood in her system."

"She's a vampire," Katherine breathes out.

That was something she didn't expect. Not that soon.

"She's different. You... You never told me, about having to drink from the vein."

"Yeah, well, it was just at first. As you know, now I can handle blood bags. Although animal blood still repulses me."

Katherine sits down on the nearest bench of the small park of the town. There is no sun today; the sky is cloudy. There is no one outside but this town is crappy anyway. She was about to leave when Stefan called. Her bags are already in her car.

"I still don't understand the break-up part."

"Her feelings for Damon..."

"Ah, yes, Damon. Of course. She finally allowed herself to admit it, huh?"

"And I can't do it all over again. I can't compete with him over a girl, again."

"And she's not any girl, is she? She's my doppelganger. I always knew this would happen, Stefan. And please, let me say it..."

"Fine, say it."

"I told you so!"

She's sure that he has this sad smile on his lips right now, even though she can't see him. She knows him too well. After all, she spent years checking up on him.

"I'm still in the country," she says after a silence.

"Do you think I could meet you somewhere?" Stefan asks in a hopeful voice.

Clearly, he's desperate to get the hell out of Mystic Falls. And Stefan's always been her weakness.

"Do you think you can be ready in two hours?"

He chuckles. Well, at least that's a proof he's not becoming a zombie.

"You're just next town, aren't you?"

"Well, let's just say I'm not as far away as everybody thinks I am. I'll pick you up at the Mystic Grill. See you soon, gorgeous."

She's about to hang up, but his voice stops her.

"Katherine!"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Three whole seconds of silence, and she murmurs:

"Anything for you."