I'll never love again [1]

THE HOUSE GUEST

"Hi."

"Look, Nat, I'm sorry. About Elijah and going behind your back. I know we should've told you-"

"Damn right you should have!" Nat exclaimed. Elena sighed and grabbed her hand.

"It was wrong, Nat, I know. I hate you being angry at me." She said sadly.

"I'm not angry anymore." Nat sighed. "But don't expect me to be okay with you daggering Elijah." Elena nodded and looked away. "I'm sorry too. For being petty and childish."

"I understand why you did it."

"I was being serious, Lena. No more memories. For now at least. I can't handle it." She said seriously.

"I know, Nat. But just so you know, if anyone might be able to handle this, then it's you. You're strong as hell." Elena said, a smile on her lips. Nat shook her head, smiling too and gestured for them to go inside. "Hey, girls' night tonight, don't forget." Right. Caroline was still heartbroken over Matt and they had decided to cheer her up.

"Yep." She nodded and they walked inside.

"I should probably tell you that Katherine is out of the tomb. When Elijah... died, the compulsion wore off." Elena said cautiously.

"I... know." Nat said looking away.

"You do?" Elena asked confused. "How?"

"She may have visited me?"

"What?!" She exclaimed. "Nat, did she hurt you? What happened?"

"Lena, calm down. She didn't hurt me, she never would." Nat reassured her.

"How can you be so calm? She could have-" Elena stopped talking when she saw Nat's relaxed face and realized something. "You've been seeing her everyday, haven't you?" Nat closed her eyes and nodded. She didn't want Elena to find out yet, but sooner or later she would have. "Why?" Her voice indicated that she was hurt and Nat felt bad for a second, but then she shook her head.

"Look, Elena, she was my sister in another life-"

"Yeah, not this one!"

"I remember her, okay? At least some of it, and I want this. I want to get to know her better. I know you don't like it, but can you at least accept it?" Elena looked away, obviously upset. "This doesn't mean that I don't love you, because I do. You're my sister, okay? But so is she, I can't hate her." Before Elena could say anything, Alaric popped his head out of his classroom and looked at them.

"Hey, could you come inside? I want to talk to you." Elena looked at her one last time before going inside quickly, Nat following her. Alaric closed the door and stood over one of the desks, Nat leaning on the wall and Elena on Ric's desk. "Jenna and I had this argument the other day."

"How bad?" Nat asked.

"It was bad." He told her before turning to Elena. "You know, John planted all these seeds about Isobel and now Jenna knows I'm lying about something.

"John's going to end up dead on the kitchen floor if he's not careful." Elena said.

"Yeah, well, easier said than done." He told them showing them his hand. No ring. Oh. "I gave him his ring back so..." He trailed off before he looked down. "Look, Jenna keeps asking about Isobel. You know, was she murdered? Why haven't they found the body? I mean, how much longer can she stay in the dark?" Alaric was exasperated, clearly fed up with the lies.

"You think we should tell her the truth?" Nat asked.

"I'm saying I can't be with her and not tell her. It's not fair to her, and it's not the kind of relationship I want." He said sadly.