*Third Person's P.O.V.*
"His name is Stefan Salvatore," Caroline spoke to Bonnie and Annabelle about the new student in their school as the three girls slowly walked through the Grill. Annabelle, knowing that her sister wanted to spend some time at the cemetery (again), decided to simply meet up with Caroline and Bonnie, and let Elena meet up with them later, "He lives with his uncle up at the old Salvatore Boarding House, he hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue," Caroline finished as she stopped walking and turned around to look at her two best friends.
"You got all of that in one day?" Bonnie asked in disbelief, and Annabelle chuckled.
"Oh, please. She got all of that between third and fourth period," she said, and Bonnie looked at her in disbelief before turning back to Caroline, who simply nodded with a nonchalant smile.
"Yup. We're planning a June wedding," she said, before turning around and walking away from the two girls, who simply stared after her in amusement.
"She's unbelievable," Bonnie murmured with a disbelieving chuckle, making Annabelle hold back a laugh.
"Well, that's Caroline for you," she said, making Bonnie stifle a laugh.
*30 Minutes Later*
"How's Elena doing?" Annabelle heard a male voice ask, and excused herself from a conversation she had with Caroline.
"Her mom and dad died. How do you think?" she heard Bonnie reply, and stiffened, coming to a halt. The dark-skinned girl's eyes wandered over to where she was standing, and widened, guilt immediately rising up. "Oh, my God. Anna, I... I am so sor-"
"It's okay, don't worry about it," Annabelle managed to say, before gathering the strength to continue walking as she turned to the teenage boy at their table, who was also looking at her apologetically. "Elena's putting on a good face, but... it's only been four months," she said, sadness seeping into her voice, making Bonnie give her a sympathetic smile.
"Has she said anything about me?" the young man asked gently, feeling guilty to seem so insensitive.
"Oh, no. I am so not getting in the middle of that," Annabelle shook her head, while Bonnie raised her hands and shook her head, silently telling him that she won't tell him anything either. "You pick up the phone and call her,"
"I feel weird calling her," he admitted. "She broke up with me,"
"Give it more time, Matt," Bonnie shrugged, giving him a soft smile, before her eyes traveled towards the door that they heard open, and widened as she saw Elena and Stefan enter together. Annabelle didn't know whether to feel sorry for Matt, or happy that her sister seemed to be spending more time with other people instead of spending so much time alone.
"More time, huh?" Matt asked sadly, his voice nearly cracking, and the two girls looked at him sympathetically as he stood up and walked towards Elena and Stefan.
Annabelle sighed and looked down at Bonnie, the two girls sharing a sad look, before following Matt.
"Hey, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you," she heard Matt introduce himself, and couldn't help but admire him. Even when he is so heartbroken, he is still kind, even to the ones most people would hate if they were in his position.
"Hi. Stefan," Stefan shook his hand with a small, polite smile, and Matt gave him a nod before his eyes traveled to Elena, while Stefan's gaze moved to Annabelle.
"Hey," Elena smiled at Matt, hoping to make him feel better, but with no such luck.
"Hey," Matt said back, but not even a smile complimented his greeting.
Elena sighed, hating the fact that she was hurting the boy she grew up with, before looking at Stefan, only to see him looking in a different direction. Furrowing her eyebrows, she followed his gaze curiously.
"Oh. Uh, Stefan, this is my sister, Annabelle," she quickly introduced, thinking that the reason Stefan was staring at Annabelle was because he could see the slight resemblance, but didn't know who Annabelle was.
"You can call me Anna," Annabelle smiled at him, reaching out to shake his hand, making him smile, his eyes remaining on her for a few more seconds.
*5 Minutes Later*
"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline questioned as she, Bonnie, Stefan, Elena, and Annabelle all sat at a table.
"Mm-hmm," Stefan nodded. "And, uh, moved when I was still young,"
"Parents?"
"My parents passed away," Stefan said, and the same look appeared on both Annabelle and Elena's faces, who gripped each other's hands comfortingly.
"I'm sorry," Annabelle spoke sincerely, and Stefan gave her a nod with a small smile.
"Any siblings?" Elena asked, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible.
"None that I talk to," Stefan replied with a smile, his eyes on Elena. "I, uh, I live with my uncle,"
"So, Stefan," Caroline spoke up, wanting to bring his attention to her instead of Elena. "If you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow,"
"It's a back-to-school thing at the falls," Bonnie explained with a smile, and Stefan immediately turned to Elena, who was sitting on his other side.
"Are you going?" he asked.
"Of course she is," Annabelle immediately answered from her sister's other side, not wanting to give Elena even a second to back out. She believed wholeheartedly that after the events that took place during the past four months, Elena deserved to be happy, and if Stefan was the key to that happiness, then she will do anything to get these two together.
Elena felt a smile grow on her lips as she heard her sister, and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at Stefan shyly.
*2 Hours Later*
Stefan opened a cabinet in his room, and pulled out an old-looking journal. He opened it, and took out two pictures that were in between the pages. One was a photo of a woman with a XIX century hairstyle, who looked exactly like Elena. However, underneath the photo it read, Katherine 1864.
Stefan sighed quietly, before putting the picture back in the journal, and looking at the one in his other hand. It was a photo of a beautiful woman with a XIX century hairstyle. The woman looked exactly like Annabelle Gilbert, down to the smallest detail. But it wasn't Annabelle. Under the photo it read: Layla 1864.
*The Next Day*
"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war, in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle?" the History teacher asked his class. "Ms. Bennett?"
"Um... a lot?" Bonnie answered, though it definitely sounded more like a question. "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot,"
"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett," the teacher said coldly, making Bonnie look down, and Annabelle scoff quietly in disbelief. "Mr. Donovan. Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"
"It's okay, Mr. Tanner. I'm cool with it," Matt replied, making everyone chuckle.
"Hmm," Mr. Tanner hummed, before bringing his gaze onto the eldest Gilbert. "Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"
"I'm sorry, I... I don't know," Elena shook her head.
"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break," Mr. Tanner said, making Elena look down, while Annabelle's blood boiled at the words that left her teacher's mouth. How dare he be so insensitive and rude?!
"There were 346 casualties, unless you're counting the local civilians," Stefan spoke up, making everyone's attention turn to him.
"That's correct," Mr. Tanner nodded, glancing at Elena one last time, before pointing at Stefan. "Mister..."
"Salvatore,"
"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"
"Distant," Stefan replied after a moment of hesitation.
"Well, very good," Mr. Tanner praised. "Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle,"
"Actually, there were, uh, 28, sir," Stefan spoke up, "Confederate soldiers, they fired on a church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founders' archives are, uh, stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner," Everyone chuckled in disbelief and shared grins, more than glad that their jackass of a teacher finally got what he deserved.
*Evening*
"Just admit it, Elena," Bonnie pressed as she, Elena, and Annabelle stood together at the party near the falls.
"Oh, okay," Elena gave in. "So, he's a little pretty,"
"'A little'?" Annabelle scoffed, making Elena shove her playfully. "He has that romance novel stare,"
"Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul," Bonnie said in a deep voice, making Annabelle and Elena laugh. "So, where is he?"
"I don't know," Elena replied. "You tell me, you're the psychic one,"
"Right, I forgot. Okay, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to 'concentrate'," Bonnie said, the disbelief clear in her voice as she closed her eyes.
"Wait," Elena said, holding her finger up, "You need a crystal ball," she said, "Uh," she looked around quickly, before picking up an empty beer bottle that was lying on the ground behind her and holding it up, "Ta da," she smiled triumphantly, making Annabelle and Bonnie chuckle as the dark-skinned girl reached out her hand to grab the bottle. However, as soon as her and Elena's hands made contact, her eyes widened and turned to Elena fearfully. After another few seconds of Bonnie being in some kind of trance, she pulled her hand away as Annabelle looked between the two girls, confusedly, "What?" Elena asked.
"That was weird," Bonnie said. "When I touched you, I saw a crow,"
"What?" Elena asked, her voice now serious and a bit fearful as well.
"A crow. There was fog, a man..." Bonnie trailed off, before shaking her head, "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it," she said, grabbing the beer bottle from Elena, although her voice gave away that she was trying to convince herself more than Elena, "Yeah? Okay, I'm gonna get a refill," she said, before quickly walking away as Annabelle and Elena stared after her.
"Okay," Elena said, still staring after the Bennett, "Bonnie!" she called, but the dark-skinned girl ignored her and simply continued walking.
"What was all that about?" Annabelle asked, and Elena shook her head as she took in a deep breath.
"I don't know," she answered quietly, and Annabelle frowned, wondering why Elena sounded so off. However, she didn't have time to ponder on it, because as soon as she turned around, she saw Stefan standing directly behind them. She opened her mouth to tell Elena, but it was too late, as the eldest Gilbert already turned around, only for her eyes to widen as she saw Stefan.
"Hi," he greeted with a smile, and Annabelle gave him a smile in return, while Elena chuckled.
"Hi,"
"I-I did it again, didn't I?" Stefan asked, his eyes on Elena, and Annabelle didn't even bother to ask what he was talking about.
"Yeah,"
"I'm sorry," he smiled, and Annabelle just shook her head with a smile at the two, before giving Stefan one last smile and walking away, looking around for either Bonnie or Caroline.
*5 Minutes Later*
"You know, you're kind of the talk of the town," Elena said as she and Stefan walked side by side.
"Am I?" he smiled.
"Mm-hmm," Elena nodded with a smile. "The mysterious new guy, oh, yeah," she chuckled.
"Well, you have the mysterious thing going, too," Stefan said. "Twinged in sadness,"
"What makes you think that I'm sad?" Elena attempted to chuckle dismissively, but found it quite hard as she realized that she actually wanted to open up to him.
"Well, uh, we did meet in a graveyard,"
"Right," Elena smiled, "Well, no, technically we met in the men's room," she said, and they both chuckled as they stepped onto the bridge right on the outskirts of the woods. "You don't want to know, it's... it's not exactly party chit-chat,"
"Well, I've never really been very good at, uh, 'chit-chat'," Stefan said, and there was a moment of silence between them.
"Last spring... my parents' car drove off of a bridge into the lake," Elena said. "And Anna and I were in the backseat, and we survived, but... they didn't," she explained, and avoided his gaze as tears rushed to her eyes, "So that's my story," she said and continued walking, but stopped when she couldn't hear Stefan's footsteps anymore and turned around, only to see that he stopped walking and was gazing at her, silently.
"You won't be sad forever, Elena," he finally spoke. "And neither will Annabelle,"
*A Few Moments Later*
"Uh-uh," Annabelle shook her head, making Caroline and Bonnie give her weird looks, but she only turned to Matt and put a finger underneath his chin, forcing him to look at her and away from Elena and Stefan, who were standing on the bridge by the falls. "None of that sulking of yours tonight, okay?"
"I'm just observing," he shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, but sighed when Annabelle gave him a look. "Okay, okay, fine," he raised his hands in surrender, but the pain was clear in his eyes, so Annabelle gave him a sympathetic smile as she rubbed his arm comfortingly.
"Come on, let's go back," she said to her friends, and the girls nodded in agreement, also wanting Matt to have a bit of fun instead of sulk over his breakup with Elena.
Matt sighed, glancing back at Elena and Stefan, before letting Annabelle grab his hand and pull him back to where everyone else was either dancing, drinking, kissing, or simply talking. Unfortunately, that was when Elena also went back and started searching for someone in the crowd, and Matt quickly pulled his hand out of Annabelle's, walking over to the eldest Gilbert, making Annabelle sigh. She honestly didn't know how to help him, but she didn't want Matt to go through any more heartbreak; he's had enough.
Just as she was about to walk over to her sister and friend, she saw Caroline walk over to Stefan, who, just now, came back to where everyone else was. Annabelle sighed, knowing, just from the way Caroline walked, that her blonde friend was drunk, and decided to follow her, knowing that Caroline will try to make a move on Stefan.
"I think you've had too much to drink," Annabelle heard Stefan say, and couldn't agree more.
"Well, of course I have," Caroline laughed, and Annabelle shook her head. "So-"
"Caroline," Stefan cut in, wanting to get his point across firmly but gently, "You and me... it's not gonna happen. I'm sorry," he said, and Annabelle took that as her cue to intervene.
"Caroline!" she called, and heard her friend sigh as she turned around, "Hey, I've been looking for you," she said, her voice softer, since she knew all about Caroline's insecurities better than anyone, and knew that Stefan's rejection definitely effected her, "Uh, Bonnie and Matt are by the stock, so..." Annabelle trailed off, and Caroline sighed before walking past her brunette friend and heading over to where Matt and Bonnie were, but not without glancing at Stefan one last time. As soon as Caroline was out of hearing range, Annabelle turned to Stefan, "I'm sorry about her," she said, now wanting the new student to think badly of Caroline because of one night when, not only Caroline was her normal self, but also her drunk self.
"Is she like that with, uh, all the guys?" Stefan asked after giving Annabelle an understanding smile, and she shook her head.
"No. You're fresh meat. She'll back off eventually," she said with a smile, but it disappeared as soon as she heard a glass bottle clatter and saw her brother heading towards the woods, "God, you've gotta be kidding me!" she exclaimed.
"What is it?" Stefan asked, following her gaze.
"Our brother," Elena said, walking past the two without stopping, keen on talking to Jeremy.
"The drunk one?"
"That would be the one," Annabelle nodded, before walking past him. "Excuse me,"
"Need some help?" Stefan asked kindly, but Annabelle shook her head as she glanced at him over her shoulder.
"Oh, no. Trust me, you're not gonna want to witness this," she said, before following her siblings into the woods. "Jeremy!"
"Jeremy!" Elena called as she and Annabelle pushed past the branches and stepped over the roots. "Jeremy, where the hell are you going?!"
"I don't want to hear it!" Jeremy snapped, turning around to look at his sisters.
"Yeah, well, too bad," Annabelle retorted, worried about her brother who had the most stupid idea of first getting drunk, and then also heading into the woods.
The two girls were only a few feet away from their brother, when he suddenly tripped and landed on something. Annabelle quickly ran over to help him, with Elena hot on her heels, only to see that Jeremy was lying on top of a person.
"Vicki? No," he mumbled, before turning around to look at his sisters. "Oh, my God, it's Vicki!"
"Oh, my God," the girls gasped as they stared at Matt's sister, who was bleeding from her neck.
"No," Jeremy mumbled, tears in his eyes, when suddenly Vicki jerked forward with a loud gasp, making Elena and Annabelle jump back and gasp in surprise.
"You'll have to carry her," Annabelle told her brother hastily, and he nodded before quickly scooping Vicki up into his arms as the three siblings made their way back to where everyone else was as quickly as possible.
"Somebody help!" Elena screamed as soon as they stepped out of the woods.
"Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?!" Matt yelled as he dropped his drink and he, Tyler, and Bonnie ran over to the three siblings, while Jeremy placed Vicki gently on one of the tables.
"What happened?" asked Tyler.
"Somebody call an ambulance!" Matt yelled.
"Everybody, back up! Give her some space!" Tyler quickly pushed away anyone who tried to get near them, before returning to standing beside Annabelle as she inspected the wound on Vicki's neck.
"It's her neck!" she exclaimed. "Something bit her! She's losing a lot of blood, and it's bad!"
"Here, put this on her neck," Matt quickly handed her a scarf, and Annabelle put it to Vicki's wound, keeping pressure on it. Elena quickly made her way over to her sister to help keep pressure, glancing at her in admiration for a second. Annabelle never liked Vicki; it was clear to everyone. She hated how Vicki treated Jeremy, and she hated that Vicki was the one who got him into drugs. Not to mention she hated Vicki's attitude. But Annabelle was one of the kindest people anyone in Mystic Falls has ever met, and she was willing to do anything in order to save Vicki's life, even if she definitely did not like the girl.
However, Annabelle was not only helping because Vicki was an innocent human, but because she was important to Tyler, Matt, and, not to mention, Jeremy. And at the moment, Annabelle didn't care that she did not like Vicki at all. No. At the moment, all she cared about was helping her.
"Vicki. Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me," Tyler pleaded, while Annabelle looked up to see if anyone called an ambulance. And when she looked up, she saw Stefan looking at Vicki with, what seemed to be, anxiety, before quickly turning around and leaving. Annabelle's brows furrowed in confusion, but she didn't have time to wonder what was going on as she tried to stop Vicki's neck from bleeding.
*5 Minutes Later*
Stefan ran into the Boarding House, and Zach looked up at him.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me," Stefan quickly explained, before running upstairs and entering his room. He closed the door behind him, before looking around the room as he felt another presence. He looked over to where his balcony doors were open, when suddenly a black crow flew in, squawking. Stefan's brows furrowed for a second, before he stiffened and turned around, only to see a man standing on his balcony. "Damon,"
"Hello, brother,"