It was the first time, after a long time, I slept again in my own bed. I felt weirdly. This place didn't feel like home to me. At least not entirely. It was just like a part of me was missing. And I didn't dare even to think what it was.
I woke up quite late, so I had to hurry, if I wanted to make the entrance I desired. I got dressed quickly and I reached the door of the Salvatore house in less than fifteen minutes. It was strange to be in this place again after three months of absence. I hit the doorbell and waited for someone to open the door.
"I got it!" I heard Elena shouting from inside. I cracked a smile. What a surprise would be for her to see me after all these months.
Eventually, the door opened and I faced a very astonished Elena, looking at me wide-eyed, jaw on the ground.
"Cassie?!?!?!" She exclaimed after a few seconds and rushed upon me, hugging me tightly. I returned the hug. God, how much I had missed her!
"Cassie who?" Caroline asked popping out from behind us. "Oh my God!!!!" She screamed, joining into our hug.
"I can't believe you are here!!!" Elena said after we released each other.
"Yeah, when did you return?"
"Last night." I replied.
"Why didn't you tell us anything?" Caroline complained.
"I just wanted to surprise you!"
"Well, it totally worked." Elena agreed.
"Where is Bonnie by the way?"
"She is with some relatives of hers. She won't be able to come."
"Too bad. So do you need any help with the preparations?" I asked unable to hold my excitement.
"Another pair of hands would be a great help." Caroline replied sharing my excitement. "Come on!" She exclaimed dragging me along with her to the living room, leaving Elena to close the door behind us.
"Tyler!" I exclaimed surprised when I saw him carrying some boxes with drinks for tonight.
"Long time no see!" He said leaving the boxes down. He came closer to me, grabbing me and spinning me around, taking me aback.
"Wow! Tyler, if I had known you had missed me so much, I would have returned earlier!" I teased him.
"Welcome back."
"Thank you!" I replied with a smile. Caroline coughed from behind us. I turned around to face her, raising an eyebrow? When did she start being possessive over Tyler?
"Don't look at me like that! We have a party to organize!" She tried to defend herself.
"We should have a talk sometime later." I stated eyeing her constantly.
"Anytime you want." She replied pretending like nothing was going on.
I'll deal with you later... I thought.
For a while, we were talking about various things along with making the appropriate preparations.
"I feel like I have to fight with Damon every single time we get a clue about Stefan." Elena was saying.
"Maybe he doesn't want to find him." Tyler commented.
"Tyler!" Caroline exclaimed.
"What? He is into you, isn't he?" He continued.
"The only reason Stefan left with Klaus was to save Damon's life. Trust me, Damon wants to find him." Elena tried to defend him.
"But... you kissed him which probably screwed with his head."
"What?!?!?!" I exclaimed.
"Tyler!" Caroline complained, before turning around and apologizing to Elena with a puppy look on her face.
"Don't worry about it." She replied.
"Will anyone tell me what the hell has happened?" I said pissed off.
"Look, yes I kissed him, but it was a goodbye kiss. I thought we would die."
"Yeah, 7 minutes in heaven for dying Damon..."
"Cassie..." Elena complained.
"Ok, I don't judge." I replied quickly.
"Thank you. And by the way how was your summer?"
"With Alexander?" Caroline added. I glared at both of them.
"You can't imagine." I said eventually.
"You are not going to get away with just a short phrase. Give us details!" Caroline ordered.
"It's really complicated. And right now the only thing I want is to get away from it. But, I promise to tell you later, when I will be ready and have found all the missing pieces of the puzzle."
"Is the dude so bad?" Tyler commented.
"It's not about him. It's about my past which may define my future. So, I live to live the present." Everyone nodded accepting my unwillingness to talk.
"I just missed a call from Bonnie. I'll be right back." Elena said and exited the room. Shortly, after that Caroline turned to Tyler irritated.
"Just because I tell you things, it doesn't mean you are allowed to know them."
"Sorry." He replied shrugging.
"I got to run if I'm going to change and pick up Sophie." He continued turning around to leave, only stopping by Caroline's laughter.
"You are bringing a date? Slutty Sophie is your date?" I rolled my eyes.
"Hey, it's been kind of slow in this department. And... I'm horny all the time now." He added in the end which made me feel a bit uncomfortable. It seemed that Caroline and Tyler came closer to each other during the summer. Caroline sighed.
"Tell me about it. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to explode-"
"Guys, guys, guys! Can you make this conversation elsewhere? Please?" I shouted. They both looked at me apologetically.
"Sorry." Caroline said.
"I have to go." Tyler said.
"I hope you get lucky tonight." Tyler chuckled.
"See you later." He said leaving the two of us alone.
Caroline turned around with a smile on her face, only to face me glaring at her with my arms crossed in front of my chest.
"What?"
"Do I have to remind you that you were much like slutty Sophie before your transformation?"
"No... Why are you saying that?"
"Do I have to remind you that your behaviour is much like the behaviour of a jealous chick who tries to hide it?"
"I'm not jealous! Why should I be? It's not like Tyler and I are dating?"
"Aren't you?" I said raising an eyebrow.
"Come on! Well, if you want to talk about this kind of things, how was your summer without Elijah?"
"Don't say the E-word!!!" I yelled upset.
"Ok..." She said understanding this was one of the many issues I didn't want to discuss or even think about.
We spent the next two hours getting everything ready. Caroline didn't mention the E-subject again and neither did I. About an hour before the party, I returned to my house and started preparing myself. I took a shower first and then I was trying to decide what to wear. Eventually, I picked my outfit thinking someone would love to see me wearing it. I shook my head taken aback by my own thoughts. "You've lost it girl!" I said to myself and quickly changed. After doing my make up, I was observing myself in the mirror.
"You look just perfect." Elijah commented behind me. I turned around to face my empty room. Had I imagined this? Was Elijah right that I wanted him to be with me?
The only thing I was sure about was that I had started going crazy...
Author's Note: So, what do you think???