[1x11; Bloodlines]
Lucy huffed as she closed the door to Elena's room; it was empty. Her sister was no where to be found. She hadn't seen Elena since the career fair the night before and all of her calls went unanswered.
It drove her nuts; not only was Lucy going to be late to school but she was worried about Elena as well.
"Joel!" she called, hoping that she'd caught her brother before he went back to Whitmore. She knocked on his closed door. "Joel, are you still here?"
The door opened within a second, revealing Joel dressed and ready to go. "What's up, Lulu?"
"Will you drive me to school?" Lucy asked, happy that she would be able to say goodbye to her brother. He still had two weeks before he was off for winter break. "Elena's not here or answering her phone."
Joel immediately nodded. "Sure," he agreed and quickly grabbed his backpack. "I'll drop you off on my way back to school. Where's Elena?"
"Thanks," Lucy said as Joel shut his door and they started walking down the stairs. "And I have no idea."
"Huh," Joel opened the front door, allowing Lucy to head out of the house first. They got into his truck and buckled up. "Did you call Stefan? I think they left the career fair together."
"Oh," Now it made sense that Elena wasn't at home or answering her phone. She was probably busy with Stefan. "Maybe she'll be at school then."
"Yeah," Joel said absentmindedly as he turned onto the court square. "Have you heard from Caroline?"
"No, but Damon said she was knocked out. I'll see how she's doing at school. Hopefully she's okay."
Joel nodded. "And how are you doing?"
Lucy gave him a weird look. "What is this, a check-up?"
"No," Joel rolled his eyes. "When I'm away at school we don't talk much. I just wanted to see how you're doing. How are your lessons with Grams?"
"They're okay," Lucy said honestly. If Joel wanted to check on her, she'd let him. That's what older siblings do. She did the same thing with Jeremy. "I had one the other day and I'm really making progress according to Grams."
"So you're not siphoning accidentally?"
"Once in a while," Lucy admitted sadly. "I've got it mostly under control, though. Other than that, Grams is teaching me some spells. For my birthday, she told me I'm getting my own grimoire of spells she's collected from other witches over the years."
Joel beamed at her, proud of how far his sister had come. It was only months ago that she was siphoning from him and Damon on accident and now she could mostly control it and was even learning spells.
"I'm proud of you, Lu."
Lucy smiled, her eyes stinging. When she found out she was a siphon and read the title of the book Grams gave her, she thought that all she could be was an abomination. It made her so happy and grateful that she had Joel, Grams, Bonnie, Elena, and Stefan to make her feel loved. She had a long way to go and a lot more to learn but she was really hoping that she could use her unnatural powers for something good.
"Thanks, JoJo."
"I thought I told you not to call me that anymore."
-
"Are you sure you're okay?" Lucy asked as she pulled away from the tight hug she had given Caroline at lunchtime. "Should you even be at school?"
Caroline laughed softly. "I'm okay as I can be given that my old babysitter tried to kidnap me," she assured Lucy. "And I'm only here to get my work for the rest of the day. The doctor said I should rest."
"Well, your doctor is smart," Lucy chuckled. "I'll leave you to it, then. Call me later if you need company."
"I will," Caroline promised with a smile.
Lucy left Caroline and bought a sandwich from the cafeteria before meeting up with Bonnie. They had agreed to eat lunch together in the courtyard since it was a relatively warm day and it was only the two of them.
Elena hadn't been in any of the classes that she shared with Lucy, nor had Stefan. She thought with their relationship repaired, they'd be here, but it was clear that she was wrong.
"Lucy!"
Well, she was half-wrong.
She turned to face Stefan as he briskly walked toward her. He had no bag with him and he was strangely wearing the same shirt that he wore the day before.
"Hey, Stefan, it's cool that you and Elena made up, but if she's going to sleep over, can you—"
Stefan cut Lucy off just as she was about to request that she could get a heads up so she could arrange a ride to school.
"Lucy, Elena's with Damon," he told her unhappily, slipping his hands into his jacket pockets.
"What? Why?"
Stefan hesitated for a second. "Because we had a disagreement," he admitted. "And now she's with Damon. I don't know where."
Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "Is Damon compelling her or something? He and Elena aren't really friends..."
"She doesn't have her necklace on, so I don't know," Stefan replied, frustrated. Out of his pocket, he pulled out the necklace full of vervain that he gave to Elena. "I was wondering if you could see if she's okay."
Lucy apprehensively looked at the necklace. "I don't think I can do that yet," she said, feeling helpless. No matter how much progress she had made with her abilities, she didn't think she was able to see where Elena was. "I'm sorry, Stefan."
"No, no, don't be sorry," Stefan said softly; the last thing he wanted to do was make Lucy feel like she wasn't useful or good enough.
"We could ask Bonnie," Lucy suggested. "I know she's been working on that kind of stuff with Grams. I was about to meet her..."
Stefan smiled gratefully. "Yeah, okay."
Lucy and Stefan set off together, walking through the rest of the school to get to the courtyard. They spotted Bonnie right away, sitting at the picnic table that she and Lucy agreed to meet at.
"Hey, Bon," Lucy greeted as she sat down and started to unwrap her sandwich. Even though they were trying to locate Elena, she still needed to eat.
"Hi, Luce," Bonnie smiled, her lips dropping when she spotted Stefan sitting next to Lucy.
Stefan nodded in greeting. "Hi, Bonnie."
"Stefan," Bonnie smiled politely, still on the fence about vampires.
"I, uh, I haven't seen you lately," Stefan pointed out; he was actually concerned with how the witch was taking the existence of vampires. Her introduction to them wasn't the greatest, after all. "How are you doing with everything?"
"I'm fine," Bonnie stated softly. "It's all fine."
"Good."
"Yeah," Bonnie looked at Lucy for help out of the small talk she was exchanging with Stefan, but Lucy winked at her and continued eating her ham sandwich. "Are you back in school?"
"No," Stefan shook his head. "Actually, I came here to find you and Lucy. I was hoping you could help me with something. A spell."
Bonnie sighed. "Stefan, look, I know that Elena and Lucy are okay with all of this and I appreciate what you did to help me, but I'm not really ready to dive into it with you just yet."
"I understand that," Stefan said calmly. "But I need your help."
Seeing that Bonnie wasn't going to give easily, Lucy spoke up, hoping that Bonnie would at least help her. "Look, Bon, Elena's with Damon. Stefan has her necklace and we were hoping that you could use it to make a connection," she paused and grimaced. "I would do it, but..."
Bonnie looked between them. "How do you know I can do this?"
"Because I've known a few witches over the years," Stefan stated. "I've seen what they can do."
"I'm still new at it," she warned him.
"It's okay," Stefan assured her, handing her Elena's necklace. "Give it a shot."
"Okay," Bonnie sighed. "All right."
She pressed the necklace firmly against the palm of her right hand before putting her left palm on top of it. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to make a connection from the necklace to Elena.
After a few seconds of darkness, she opened her eyes and looked at Lucy and Stefan. "There's nothing," she told them. "Nothing's happening. Usually there's an image or..." she looked around the courtyard before turning back to Lucy and Stefan. "Tell me if anyone's looking."
"Okay," Lucy nodded.
Bonnie leaned over and picked up a leaf that was sitting on the ground by the table. She placed it on the table and sighed, brushing back her hair from her face. She held her hands palm-down over the leaf and breathed heavily, trying to raise it into the air.
Lucy watched closely, concerned that nothing was happening. Levitating leaves and feathers was one of the first things that Bonnie achieved when she learned that she was a witch. If nothing was happening, something was wrong with Bonnie's magic.
Bonnie huffed, scared and frustrated at the same time.
"What is it?" Stefan asked worriedly.
"Something's wrong," Bonnie told him.
"With Elena?"
Lucy rolled her eyes at Stefan as Bonnie replied, "With me. There's something wrong with me," she stood up and grabbed her bag, flinging it over her shoulder. "I have to go. I'm sorry, I can't help you."
Lucy stood up as well; if something was wrong with Bonnie's magic, she wanted to be there for her. "Wait, Bonnie. I'll come with you."
Bonnie nodded and Lucy reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it in reassurance.
-
It was two hours after Lucy and Bonnie arrived at Grams' house and they were still going through books, trying to find out what was wrong with Bonnie. Every single book that Grams owned on occult magic had been taken off their shelf to look through. So far, they hadn't found anything and Lucy had to help Bonnie out of an anxiety attack two different times.
"This one said that another witch could take your powers," Lucy said, reading the book in her hands. She looked at Bonnie. "Did a witch take your magic?"
"No," Bonnie shook her head. "I would know, right? I mean, I think I would notice if a witch came up to me and forcefully took my magic."
"Yeah, you're right," Lucy agreed, closing the book and putting back on the coffee table in front of them. "Well, I didn't take your magic, either, so it must be biological or something."
"Ugh!" Bonnie groaned loudly, throwing her current book on the table and grabbing another one. "I didn't even want magic and now I'm practically lost without it."
Lucy patted her back sympathetically and grabbed another book that she hadn't read.
Luckily, the door opened and Grams walked in, arms weighed down by grocery bags and her briefcase.
"Thank God you're back!" Bonnie exclaimed, startling Grams.
Grams pursed her lips, looking at her granddaughter and student. "And hello to you, too," she mumbled, shutting the door. "What's the matter?"
"My powers are gone, Grams," Bonnie frowned. "I can't do anything, even when I concentrate. And there's nothing in any of these books that can tell me how to get them back."
"Hang on, now," Grams said soothingly. She set down her bags and took a seat next to Bonnie. "Just calm down and tell me what happened."
Lucy and Bonnie shared a look; even though Grams knew about vampires, she wasn't sure if they should tell her about the Salvatores.
Bonnie sighed, "I can't."
Grams raised her eyebrows, catching Lucy and Bonnie's exchange. "We keeping secrets now?"
"I have to," Bonnie insisted. "I'm sorry, I promised. Please help me."
Grams looked displeased that Bonnie was keeping something from her, but she was going to help anyway.
"Well, first of all, there's nothing in any of these that's gonna help you," she said, gesturing to the books. "If you're blocked, it's in here—" she pointed to Bonnie's head. "You gotta clear it out—then you're back in business."
"Clear what out?"
Grams smiled sadly. "Whatever's got you so scared."
It was clear that Bonnie knew exactly what Grams was talking about. When Bonnie stood up to go clear her mind, Lucy was surprised when she asked her to come with her. Lucy said yes, determined to help Bonnie in anyway she could.
After telling Grams that they'd be careful, Lucy and Bonnie left the house and started to drive to the old Fell's Church. Fog was thick in the air as they walked through the old cemetery on the way, but they were able to find their way to the church easily enough.
"I'm sorry that you got caught up in all this, Bon-Bon," Lucy said sadly. She felt so bad that Bonnie was scared enough of vampires that she couldn't even use her magic.
Bonnie gave her a small smile. "It's okay. Besides, it seemed like Emily was gonna get me involved whether I knew you or not."
Lucy had to admit that Bonnie had a point.
The girls fell quiet as they came upon the ruins of the church. They looked around for a second to make sure there was no one around before Bonnie bent down, grabbing a leaf from the ground.
She held the leaf with one palm while trying to levitate it with the other. When that didn't work, she rubbed her hand on her jeans and tried again. Unfortunately, her magic still didn't work.
She was still scared.
All of a sudden, a loud creak filled the air. Lucy and Bonnie whipped their heads around, trying to find the source of the noise.
"What was that?" Lucy whispered harshly, scared that someone was around.
"I don't know," Bonnie said quietly before raising her voice. "Hello? Anybody here?"
Another creak sounded, causing Lucy to flinch. All at once, the ground beneath their feet caved in. Lucy and Bonnie screamed as they fell into the tomb below, falling unconscious with the force of their bodies against the hard stone.
-
"Lucy! Lucy, wake up! Lucy!"
Whoever was calling her name sounded like they were under water. Or maybe she was the one underwater...either way, the sound of her name was muffled but enough to catch her attention.
Lucy slowly opened her eyes, wincing as she felt a stabbing pain coming from her forehead. Bonnie's face was hovering over her, the skin above her eyebrow cut and bleeding slightly.
"Lucy, are you okay?" Bonnie's voice was much clearer than before.
"Yeah," Lucy said hoarsely, blinking as Bonnie helped her sit up. "I'm all right."
She looked around her, startled to see that they were in some kind of stone room. She remembered the ground caving in, so she presumed that they were in some sort of underground chamber. She looked above their heads and groaned in relief when she saw that it was still light out.
While Bonnie called for help, she looked over herself to see if she was injured. Her tights were ripped at the knee and there was a cut underneath, she had a scrape on her forearm, and blood dripping down her face. It could have been worse; she could have broken a bone.
Lucy stood up and joined Bonnie in calling for help. When it was clear that no one was around to help them out of the tomb, Lucy looked around. There was something that looked like a sewage drain that was long out of use and to her horror, a large door with a pentagram carved into it.
"Bonnie," she whispered, pointing the door out to her; Bonnie gasped in fright.
This had to be the actual tomb that Damon was talking about. Apparently there were around twenty-seven vampires from 1864 behind that door, including Stefan and Damon's ex-girlfriend, Katherine. They had been desiccating for a hundred and forty-five years—there was no doubt they were hungry.
An hour passed and after looking around carefully, they found that there was exit. Unfortunately, the exit was blocked by debris, so they were unable to leave that way.
Lucy was frustrated; she was cold and it was starting to get dark. And both her phone and Bonnie's phone had no service so it wasn't like they could call anyone to their rescue.
Bonnie still hadn't given up on her phone. She held it up in the air, trying to get a bar. "Come on, phone!" she cried. As if the phone wanted to defy her, it abruptly died. She groaned loudly, "Great!"
"Okay," Lucy sighed and turned on the flashlight from her phone. The small beam of light illuminated the stone room and somehow made the large door seem even creepier. "Your Grams has to realize you've been gone for too long, right?"
"Maybe," Bonnie shrugged as she walked over to Lucy, eyeing the pentagram on the door behind her. She tilted her head, hearing various whispers. "Do you hear that?"
Lucy listened carefully and heard the same thing as Bonnie. She narrowed her eyes at the door and came to the conclusion that the vampires could probably smell their blood.
"Yeah."
Lucy stepped closer to the door to see if she could hear them better. She was about to press her hand against the stone when someone who was definitely not Bonnie called her name.
"Lucy, don't!"
Lucy and Bonnie let out identical shrieks as Stefan appeared in front of them. Lucy didn't wait to recognize him before she struck out, still shrieking, to hit their attacker.
Stefan stopped her before her hit landed, carefully grabbing her wrist so she would hurt herself. A slight sting started in his palms as Lucy unknowingly siphoned from him, her arms glowing red.
"Lucy, it's me," Stefan gritted his teeth, in pain. "It's Stefan."
Lucy relaxed and Stefan felt her stop siphoning from him right away. Lucy felt foolish; she tried to punch Stefan and ended up siphoning from him! How humiliating.
"I'm so sorry," she apologized profusely, pushing his hands away from her. She didn't want to hurt him again.
"It's fine, Luce," he assured her. He looked at Bonnie and then back at her. "Are you guys okay? Are you hurt?"
"We're okay," Bonnie said, hand pressed over her heart. "The ground gave way and we fell."
"It's okay, it's okay," he said calmly. He looked at Lucy and noticed the guilty expression on her face and her heavily, panicked breathing. He couldn't help himself; he cupped her clean cheek and rubbed her flushed skin soothingly. "Calm down, okay?"
Lucy blew out a breath slowly, trying to calm down. She just felt so bad that she hurt Stefan. She really thought she was getting her siphoning under control—apparently, she wasn't. Stefan was okay, though, he told her himself. She just needed to relax and breathe.
Once Lucy's breathing was steadier, Stefan spoke up again, "Come on, let's get you guys out of here."
"How?" Bonnie asked fearfully.
"Just close your eyes and trust me," Stefan told her softly. He looked at Lucy, silently telling her the same and she nodded back at him. "Come here."
Stefan made sure both Lucy and Bonnie were safe and secure in his grasp before jumping out of the tomb. They landed safely in the ground outside of the hole without any trouble.
Stefan released Bonnie but made sure to keep an arm around Lucy. He was worried sick about her when he hadn't heard from her all afternoon; he was very glad that he found her safe and only slightly injured. Lucy seemed like she needed a hug, too—she was still shaking.
"You can open your eyes now," Stefan told Bonnie, noticing that her eyes were still closed.
Bonnie opened her eyes and gasped, astounded to see that they were above ground again. "Whoa."
"I didn't want to scare you."
"How did you know where we were?" Bonnie wondered.
"Well, your grandmother told me what you were doing and that Lucy went with you," Stefan informed them. "I guessed the where."
"We heard them down there, Stefan," Lucy told him, looking down at her feet. "Behind the door. Are they in pain?"
"In the beginning—yes. But not anymore," Stefan stated. "They've been starved to the point of desiccation."
"But if they have blood—"
Stefan cut Bonnie off. "That's not going to happen, Bonnie," he assured her. "They can't get out. Emily saw to that when she had you destroy the crystal. You're safe," he squeezed Lucy's shoulders. "You're both safe."
-
The front door of the house opened as Bonnie, Lucy, and Stefan wandered up the sidewalk. Grams appeared and gave Bonnie a bright smile.
"Well, now, look who's returned from battle," she said causing Bonnie to leap and engulf her into a hug. When Bonnie pulled away, Grams asked, "Can I talk to your friend for a minute?"
Bonnie nodded and stepped into the house. She looked back at Stefan and Lucy and said, "Thank you, guys."
Lucy smiled and waved, glad that she could help Bonnie even if it was almost a disaster.
When Bonnie left for the kitchen, Grams turned to Stefan. "I appreciate your help, Stefan."
"You're welcome, Sheila."
Grams' face visibly brightened when Stefan called her by her given name causing Lucy to look between them curiously. How would Stefan know Grams' name?
"I wasn't sure you remembered," Grams looked pleased.
"October 1969," Stefan recalled.
"I was barely a teenager."
"And you were leading what was probably the only anti-war sit-in within miles of Mystic Falls," Stefan added. "You know, when you spoke, people were mesmerized. I know I was."
"Until the cops showed up," Grams chuckled. Her grin faded as she became serious. "You took a big risk coming to seem me earlier. Letting me read you and realize who you were. It could have gone a completely different way."
"Well, your family has a very long history of keeping my secret," Stefan replied. "I knew that I could trust you if you believed that I was worthy of your trust."
"Bonnie knows, doesn't she?"
Stefan nodded. "Yes."
"Please understand that our loyalty can only extend so far," Grams said firmly. "This town won't be easy on any of us if they figure it out. And I'll protect my own before anybody else."
"I know that," Stefan accepted Grams' claim calmly.
"As long as we're clear," Grams nodded, smiling slightly. "Goodnight, then."
Stefan grinned. "Goodnight, Sheila."
As Grams closed her door, Lucy turned to Stefan, amazed. "You really knew Grams when she was young?"
"I didn't really know her," Stefan corrected her as they climbed down the porch steps. "I just met her once."
"Sometimes I forget how old you actually are," Lucy commented. As they started walking down the sidewalk—Stefan didn't bring a car—she furrowed her eyebrows thoughtfully. "Stefan..."
"Hmm?"
"Why did you stop me from touching the tomb door?" she asked quietly. "Is it because I can..."
"You'd probably be able to siphon the magic seal on the tomb," Stefan finished softly. "And we can't let those vampires out. It wouldn't be good."
Lucy nodded, understanding his reasons.
"That also means that we can't let Damon figure out that you can absorb the seal," Stefan continued. "If he knows you're able to drop the spell, he'll use you to get Katherine out. He's desperate when it comes to her, so he would do anything to make you help him."
Lucy shivered, hoping that Damon would never find out. "Okay, then. No telling Damon. Got it."
Stefan scoffed in amusement. "Yeah."
"Speaking of Damon..." Lucy drawled, watching as Stefan frowned. He probably knew what she wanted to ask, but she was going to anyway. "How did Elena end up with Damon? What were you guys fighting about, anyway?"
Stefan sighed. "It's complicated and it sounds worse than it is..."
"Seriously, Stefan, you can talk to me," Lucy could see how reluctant he was to share. "You're one of my best friends and I'm here for you."
Stefan couldn't help but smile at Lucy despite the seriousness of what he had to tell her. "Thanks, Lucy," he said gratefully. "What I did was horrible and I should have told Elena from the start, but..."
Lucy listened in shock as Stefan told her about Katherine and how Elena was basically a carbon copy of her. When she shook her head in denial, he even pulled out his phone to show her a picture he had. It was too weird, but Stefan was telling the truth. The woman in the picture looked just like Elena but she was wearing old-fashioned clothing and her hair was adorned in vintage curls. There was even handwriting at the bottom corner of the photo, dating it back to the 1860s.
When Stefan saw the shocked look on Lucy's face, he hurried to explain. "Elena's not Katherine and that's not why I'm with her," he said seriously. "Even before we were together, I knew that she was the opposite of Katherine."
Lucy looked at him, confused. "How would you know that?"
"The first day of school wasn't the first time I saw you and Elena," Stefan admitted.
"What are you talking about?" Lucy couldn't remember meeting Stefan and she would have. He was a memorable person. "When did we first meet?"
"May 23, 2009."
Lucy stopped walking, her eyes narrowed. "No, that was—"
"That was the night when you, Elena, and your parents were in a car accident," Stefan acknowledged, stuffing his hands into his jacket as he stopped walking, turning to face her. "and your car went off the bridge."
Lucy's eyes stung, her vision blurring—that meant Stefan was there. "You—?"
Stefan nodded. "Every couple of years or so, I come back here to see Zach and my home. And last spring, I was out in the woods by Old Wickery Bridge. I heard the accident. All of it. I was fast getting there but not fast enough. The car was already submerged."
Lucy breathed deeply, tears wetting her cheeks. Memories flashed through her eyes and she could practically feel the cold water around her.
"Your dad was still—he was still awake," Stefan continued sadly. "I was able to get to him but he wouldn't let me help him until I helped you and Elena."
"No one knew how we survived," Lucy whispered, almost in a trance. She recalled the looks on Joel and Jenna's faces when she woke up. They looked so relieved even through their sobs. She absentmindedly placed a hand on the left side of her ribs where they were broken during the accident. They still hurt once in a great while. "My ribs..."
"Your heart stopped beating so I performed CPR," Stefan told her quietly, looking regretful about her injury. "I didn't mean to do it so hard."
"Don't apologize," Lucy whispered. "You saved my life."
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to do the same for your parents."
Lucy shook her head though more tears welled up thinking about what could have been. Stefan did the best he could and, in the end, it was her father that gave up his life for her and Elena. That was his choice and he made it with love.
"So you saw Elena," she said, trying to distract herself.
"I couldn't believe how much they looked alike," Stefan said. "So I spent time making sure Elena wasn't Katherine."
"And you stayed," Lucy assumed. It was kind of stalkerish that Stefan watched Elena for a while but at least his intentions weren't malicious.
Stefan nodded.
Lucy inhaled deeply and wiped the tears off her face. "Do you know why Elena looks like Katherine?" she wondered. "Is Katherine related to us somehow?"
"No."
Lucy raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean? How else would Elena look just like Katherine?"
"It didn't make any sense—Katherine was a Pierce—so I looked into it," Stefan said. He took a deep breath and confessed, "Lucy, Elena is adopted...and so are you."
Lucy felt lightheaded; there was no way Stefan was telling the truth. She had seen her birth certificate before and her parents' names were printed on it. She was a Gilbert; Stefan had to be mistaken.
She must have faltered because suddenly Stefan was there, holding onto her arms to make sure she wouldn't fall to the sidewalk. "Lucy..."
"No, no, no," Lucy shook her head, tears once again making their way down her cheeks. "Stefan, you're wrong, okay? I know you're wrong. Please tell me you're wrong."
"I can't, Lucy," he whispered, apologetically. "I'm sorry."
A sob tore its way from Lucy's throat and that was as much as Stefan could take. He wrapped her into a tight hug, making sure she knew that he was there for her. He held her as she cried heavily, not even noticing when his shirt became wet with her tears.
Lucy didn't want to believe that she was adopted but suddenly things started to make sense. Her mom never used to tell her stories about being pregnant with her. Her Grandpa and Grandma Gilbert would always give her slightly disapproving looks that they wouldn't give to Joel, Elena, or Jeremy. And she felt really stupid when she remembered that she had a different blood type than both of her parents, which wasn't possible.
How ignorant could she be that she hadn't realized sooner?
"How did you find out?" Lucy asked after her sobs came to a slow stop. Her breath was still hitching once in a while and she kept her head on Stefan's chest, reveling in his comforting hug.
"I found your birth certificate at the city records office," Stefan told her. "It has your name, your parents' names and Mystic Falls General. But there's no record of your mother being admitted on your birthday. There's no record of her even being pregnant."
"And Elena?"
"It's the same with her."
Lucy closed her eyes, feeling defeated. It seemed like everything she knew was a lie; was Lucy even her real name?
"I'm not a Gilbert," she whispered, her eyes watering again. God, how she wished she would stop crying. "Joel and Jeremy aren't my brothers...Elena's not my sister..."
"Stop. Look at me," Stefan pulled away from their hug and lowered his head so Lucy didn't have to crane her neck to look him in the eyes. When her watery hazel eyes locked on his, he continued, "Listen to me, Lucy. Just because you don't share blood with Elena, Joel, and Jeremy, doesn't mean you're not family. You were raised together and you love each other, you'd do anything for one another. How is that not a family?"
"But..."
"Your dad made sure I got you out of that car because he loved you more than he loved himself," Stefan went on, not letting her interrupt him. "And I know you probably feel lost and confused—" tears dripped from Lucy's eyes but she didn't break eye contact with him. "—but you're still Lucy Gilbert. You're the sister of Elena, Joel, and Jeremy. You're Caroline Forbes' best friend. You're my best friend. You're still the goofy Lucy Gilbert that everyone knows and loves and being adopted doesn't take that away."
When Lucy looked back on that moment years later, she knew that was when she first started to fall for Stefan Salvatore.