The Vampire Diaries: Natalie Gilbert

34. Trudie Peterson

Natalie's POV

Me and Elena sit on the porch swing, none of us saying a word. It's cold out but we're both wrapped up in a woolly blanket. Elena writes in her diary as I text Stefan.

'You okay? X'

'No. But I will be. You okay? X'

'I'm okay. Just worried about you. X'

'I'll be okay. How's Damon?'

'Angry. He hasn't come out of his room and hasn't stopped drinking.'

'I did warn him. Just be careful around him. Don't want to come to yours and find you daggered.'

'I'll try not to get daggered.'

'Thanks. I'd miss you too much if you was.'

'I'm glad. Text me if you need anything and I'll be right there. X'

'I will. Love you. X'

'Love you more, baby. X'

"What are you two doing out here? It's freezing." Jenna asks as she walks onto the porch with a cup of coffee. "Thinking, writing, texting. The uh, the funeral for Bonnies Grams brought back a lot of memories of mom and dad." Elena tells her before she shuffles forward slightly, titling her head. "I was wondering...you said that you would do some digging about them, the adoption?"

"Oh my- you're still on this?" I ask, removing the blanket and standing up. I cross my arms over my chest as the cold air immediately hits me. "Aren't you curious, Nat?" Elena asks as she slightly glares at me. "No." I reply instantly, rolling my eyes. "Did you dig?" Elena continues to ask.

"Come inside." Jenna replies, giving us a small smile. The three of us head back into the house and Jenna pulls out her laptop, sitting herself down at the dining table. Me and Elena stand behind her as Jenna loads up whatever information she found. I really am not interested.

Why would I want to know the so-called parents who gave me up?

"Your dad kept everything from his medical practice- records, logs, old appointment books." Jenna tells us, pulling out a journal and opening it up. "I found an entry from the night you both were born. Patient and a birth date. Isobel Peterson."

"Do you think that's her real name?" Elena asks and I scoff. "Pregnant teenage runaway? Probably not." I tell her. "That's what I thought. First name, maybe. But where'd she get Peterson? Classmate? Best friend? So, I binged it." Jenna says.

"Oh, a right little detective, aren't you, aunt J?" I say making Jenna laugh before she pulls up an internet page and typed into the search bar. "I searched for all the Peterson's in this area, born the same year as Isobel, I found three. Two men and a woman. Trudie, who lives in Grove Hill, Georgia."

Jenna types away on her laptop again, pulling up a picture of two girls in cheerleading outfits from high school and the names underneath read: Trudie Peterson & Isobel Flemming.

"Isobel." Elena whispers, staring intently at the screen before a small smile appears on her face. "She was a cheerleader." She says and I roll my eyes again. I'm starting to get annoyed with Elena for even wanting to know the bitch who abandoned us at birth.

Jenna hands Elena a post-it note that has an address labelled on it. "This is Trudies address. I couldn't find anything out about Isobel." She says. "What a shame." I mutter sarcastically under my breath but Jenna hears me and gives me a small smile. She's the only one, apart from Stefan, who knows I'm not interested in finding her.