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𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲
𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴
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FRAN WALKED ALONGSIDE ELENA AS THEY MADE THEIR WAY OVER TO THE GIRLS GETTING READY FOR CHEER PRACTICE. Fran wondered what they were doing there since Elena didn't enjoy cheer anymore.
"Oh, my god! You're here!" Bonnie cheered when she saw Elena and Fran approaching. She stood from her stretching and hugged Elena.
"Yep. I can't be sad girl forever." Elena said, giving Bonnie a determined nod. "The only way to get things back to the way they were are to do things that were. Oh, and you're coming to dinner tonight." She said, beginning to stretch.
Fran scrunched up her nose and looked around with squinted eyes. She wanted to go home to paint some before the dinner Elena had planned for her and Bonnie to gain some liking towards Stefan. Fran had no clue what Elena was thinking, thinking she'd be able to like the boy.
Loud music snaps Fran out of her thoughts and causes her to look over at the blue car that was playing the loud music. Fran's eyes darted between the two people in the vehicle; Caroline Forbes and the man whose name she didn't bother remembering.
Fran tilted her head when the two shared a kiss before Caroline got out of the car. "I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." Caroline smirked as she walked past the trio.
"Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy." Caroline announced to everyone. She then turned to Fran, feigning a smile, "Fran, darling, you're in the way. Please move."
Fran furrowed her brows before moving away to the bleachers, ignoring the apologetic looks Bonnie and Elena gave her. She was unaware of Damon watching her before he drove away.
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TO SAY THE DINNER WAS AWKWARD WAS AN UNDERSTATEMENT, it was clear Fran nor Bonnie wanted to be there. At the moment, Elena wished she had no feelings like her sister, who didn't notice the tense air around and ate like nothing was wrong.
"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena finally broke the awkward silence by trying to make conversation with Stefan.
"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right," Stefan answered, causing Elena to chuckle.
Elena turned to Bonnie and Fran with a smile, "You two should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and-"
"Yeah, I heard." "Fascinating." Bonnie and Fran interrupted her simultaneously, finding no interest in the topic of Stefan Salvatore.
"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena suggested to Bonnie, wanting some kind of positive interaction between the two.
"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie answered listlessly, only making the situation more awkward.
"I'm pretty sure she meant the witches," Fran spoke, taking a sip of her drink with raised brows. Bonnie gave her a look while Elena nodded in agreement to what she said.
"Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's pretty cool." Elena told Stefan, earning a look from Bonnie.
"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie said, shaking her head.
"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan said, catching the two girls' attention.
"My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie said, slowly easing up on the hostile tone.
"Really? Salem witches?" Stefan asked, seeming interested.
"Yeah." Bonnie nodded with a small chuckle.
"I would say that's pretty cool," Stefan said, glancing at Elena and Fran.
"Really? Why?" Bonnie questioned, finding it confusing that he'd be interested in something like witches.
"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity." Stefan acknowledged, seeming genuinely intrigued.
"Yeah, they are." Bonnie finally smiled.
Happy that the two were now getting along, Elena turned to her sister, knowing this one might be more of a challenge. "Fran." She began, smiling at her sister.
"Elena." Fran mocked, finishing her food and leaning back with crossed arms.
"Why don't you tell Stefan about your paintings and car," Elena suggested, knowing that might get her to talk.
"They are the only things that can help me feel the smallest amount of emotion," Fran told Stefan in a monotonous voice.
"As in..." Stefan turned to Elena with furrowed brows.
"A sociopath?" Fran finished at the same time Elena shook her head, "No, she's not a sociopath."
Stefan slowly nodded before looking back at Fran, hoping to at least become acquaintances with the girl. "You like painting and cars?" He asked, remembering her impala from the front yard.
"Yep," Fran answered, leaning forward on her elbows as if challenging him to impress her.
Taking the challenge, Stefan also leaned on her elbows, saying, "Back home, I've got some painting supplies that don't get used, if you want them, and maybe you can show me some of your paintings. And I've also got some cars that you might find interesting and might want to check."
Fran's eyes went over to Elena, who was looking at her, awaiting her answer. Her eyes go back to Stefan, and she drops her arms, sitting up straight. "I'll think about it, Salvatore." She finally answered.
And just like that, it felt as if all the tension in the room dropped and everyone smiled in relief.
The happy mood came to an end when the doorbell rang, signalling someone was at the door. "I wonder who that could be." Elena mused, standing up and walking over to the door.
When Fran saw Damon and Caroline at the door, she stood from her chair, saying, "Too many people." Before quickly leaving upstairs.
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FRAN WATCHED EVERYONE CHATTERING AMONGST THEMSELVES AS THEY WAITED FOR THE GAME TO START, eating some chips she had bought to keep herself from going out of her mind. She looked away from everyone when Elena and Stefan approached her, Elena, with a big grin on her face.
"Stefan. Elena." Fran greeted lazily, giving them a nod. If she had known making 'friends' with Stefan would mean she had to often be around him, she would have never agreed to the dinner.
"Stefan got you a gift," Elena told Fran, feeling happy the two were getting along.
"For?" Fran asked, looking between the two.
"As a 'thank you' for giving me a chance," Stefan answered, giving her a small smile. He then opened the little box in his hand and took out a chain bracelet.
"Say thanks," Elena whispered to her sister when she took the bracelet and put it on her wrist without a word.
Stefan chuckled and shook his head when Fran gave her a look of refusal, "It's fine. Really." He said, waving a dismissive hand. Stefan didn't mind if she said thank you or not, as long as they were safe from Damon, he was fine.
"Don't you have a game to get to?" Fran muttered, giving Stefan a look before walking away. She still didn't completely trust him nor give a damn about him.
"She has a really short interest span for everything besides her car and painting. It took three years for her to remember Bonnie and Caroline's names and tolerate them." Elena awkwardly chuckled when she saw the look on Stefan's face.
"It's fine, and she's right, I do have a game to get ready for," Stefan said, giving her a smile before jogging over to the other players.
Elena turned around with a smile, but it dropped when she saw Caroline. "And you're not in uniform because?"
Later after the sun had set, everyone gathered around a fire as Mr Tanner began his speech before the game. Fran watched from a distance, not listening to a thing the man was saying. She wasn't there to watch the game or listen to a man's pep talk; she was there for the pie they were giving out to snack on while watching the game.
Fran looked away from the crowd of cheering students when she noticed another group forming nearby. She hopped off her car and made her way over to the commotion, her brows shooting up when she saw Tyler and Jeremy fighting.
"Stop, you're hurting him! Tyler!" Vicki shouted as if that would cause the two boys to stop fighting.
Stefan suddenly ran forward and tried to pull Tyler off of Jeremy. "Hey, he's down! Enough!" Tyler got off of Jeremy and turned around, landing a hard punch in Stefan's torso. He became confused when Stefan didn't even flinch when his fist made contact.
Fran sighed before walking forward to stop Jeremy from starting the fight again, unaware that Jeremy had grabbed a broken bottle to hit Tyler with. Too blinded by his anger, Jeremy didn't notice Fran step between them, and swung the bottle, expecting it to hit Tyler.
"Jeremy! No!" Elena shouted, and Stefan tried to pull Fran out of the way, but the bottle had already sliced open Fran's face.
Jeremy stumbled back in shock while Elena and Stefan quickly went to Fran, who was covering the gash that went from the top of her eyebrow to just below her eye.
"Someone call the ambulance!" Elena panicked, her hands shaking and eyes filling with tears as she looked at her sister.
"It hurts?" Fran mumbled, looking at her bloody hand as if she was offended that her face was bleeding and she felt so much pain.
"Because your face is cut open!" Elena shrieked, confused with how her sister was so calm.
"Fran, I-I'm sorry." Jeremy stuttered, feeling shocked and concerned. He might hate that his sister didn't feel anything for their parents' death, but he'd never want to hurt her and cause her so much pain.
"There's a lot of blood," Stefan said, swallowing thickly to keep himself in control.
"Did anyone call the damn ambulance?!" Elena shouted, glaring around at everyone who was watching and recording. She looked back at her sister, holding her hand over Fran's that was over her bleeding face when Tyler told her he called them.
"They're going to be here soon, just-just stay calm," Elena told her, her voice breaking as tears threatened to fall down her face.
"I'm calm, you and Jeremy are the ones panicking," Fran replied, wincing when a jolt of pain went through her face.
Once the ambulance got there, they took Fran to the hospital where they would stitch up her face and tell her it would scar.
Fran looked away from the chips in her hands when the door to the hospital room swung open. In rushed Jenna, Jeremy, and Elena who got there as soon as they could.
"Are you okay?" Jenna asked before making a face and shaking her head. "Bad question."
"I'm fine," Fran answered anyway, putting a chip in her mouth.
Feeling guilty, Jeremy stepped forward and quickly began apologising. "I'm sorry, Fran. I didn't mean to hit you, I-"
"No hard feelings, I can't feel them. Plus, I guess I get to have a cool scar on my face." Fran shrugged, touching the bandage that was covering the stitches.
Everyone couldn't help but slightly laugh, feeling relieved she was okay and still her usual self. Some may think they were just being dramatic since it was just a scratch that would need stitches, but they didn't care, they were just happy she was okay.
"You should be more worried about Elena since she was the one that was crying." Fran then said, looking over to Elena.
Elena chuckled, managing the keep the relieved tears at bay. "Because I was scared and worried for you, Franny."
"No need to be scared, I'm fine, don't feel a thing besides the pain in my face." Fran shrugged, forcing a smile onto her face.
Everyone laughed again at the awkward and obviously forced smile on Fran's face.
Fran looked down at her hands that still had blood on them, frowning. Her eyes peer up at the three people standing in front of her. "You do have my car, right?"
Elena smiled and nodded, "Yes, I've got your car, and it's perfectly fine."
"Okay," Fran whispered, slowly nodding her head with a squinted eye.
Jenna clapped her hands together, catching everyone's attention. "Whelp, let's get you out of here, shall we?" She announced with raised brows, and everyone nodded, wanting to get home after this crazy night.