a party for two
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Athena huffed at the sound of Stefan's muffled voice as she tried to slide off of the mattress. "I'm getting out of bed, what's it look like?"
Stefan buries his head further into his pillow, barely straining his arm to tighten his hold around her waist and prevent her from moving any further. "Why are you getting out of bed?"
"Because we have school in an hour, and I promised Caroline I'd help her with the Miss Mystic Falls pageant."
The vampire groans, sliding Athena back beside him with a smug smile playing on his lips when she yelps in surprise. He peels his eyes open, meeting her unamused look with a barely contained laugh.
"Stefan," She pushes his blond hair off of his face, patting his cheek slightly. "We've been locked up in your room for two days, we have to go back to being people eventually."
He scoffs like the idea is ridiculous and gently pushes Athena back onto the bed. "Let's make it three days,"
She hums, turning her head as he tries to kiss her lips, making him hit her jaw instead. Stefan looks down at her incredulously, and she huffs a laugh. "Shouldn't the roles be reversed, here? I should be the one trying to stay in bed, and you should be the one telling me to be a good friend, right?"
"You know, my morals are not as strong-willed as you and Damon like to think. I am not an upstanding citizen all the time."
"Well, you could've fooled me," She rests her arms on his shoulders, looking up at him. "Are you going to let me out of bed?"
"I haven't decided,"
"Get up!"
Athena and Stefan yelp, the vampire instinctively covering Athena as Damon barged into the room, oblivious to their current state.
"Damon, seriously?!"
The raven-haired man registers the two and his face scrunches up in disgust as he gags. "Ugh, gross,"
Stefan sighed through clenched teeth. "Will you get out, Damon?"
The vampire, uncaring, holds a hand up to cover his eyes. "I'm afraid I have to interrupt the love-fest because you two have to go to school. I don't know if you forgot this, what with your two-day sexcapade, but we have a vampire-hunting history teacher that simply refuses to die."
Athena and Stefan groan in unison.
"Fine," Stefan rolls his eyes. "We're getting up– you are getting out."
"Happily."
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"I can't believe you've never driven me around in your classic cars," Athena complained as she and Stefan pulled into the parking lot of the high school. She looked at Stefan, who looked at ease with a pair of dark sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose and a smirk on his lips.
"You never asked,"
Athena looks at him incredulously, her jaw dropping slightly as they come to a stop. She grabbed her bag from her feet and slung the strap over her shoulder as Stefan got out of the car and went to her side to open the door as she stepped out.
"Don't you dare blame this on me, Salvatore," She pokes her index finger into his chest, ignoring his smug smirk as he takes his sunglasses off and slides them over her face gently. "With your smirks, and your classic cars, and your charm– it's ridiculous, really. You should be arrested,"
Stefan laughs, throwing his arm around her shoulders as they walk towards the school, trapped in their bubble from the outside world. "Are you done?'
"Now that you ask, no, I'm not. There is something truly criminal about you, Stefan. Do you–"
He nods at the beginnings of her rambling and uses the arm around her shoulders to swing her towards him in a swift movement that makes her eyes widen. He leans down and kisses her quickly, silencing her string of words.
He pulls away slowly, smugness radiating off of him as he watches Athena dazedly blink her eyes back open. "Wow," He nods to himself. "I finally found a way to shut you up."
"I'm sorry," She quickly retorts, blinking away her loved-up haze. "Do you want me to announce to the whole school how much I want to–"
Stefan slaps a hand over her mouth, his green eyes shooting up to where the blonde girl is standing with her jaw practically on the ground. "Hey, Caroline."
"Uh,"
Athena pushes Stefan's hand off of her mouth and faces Caroline breathlessly, shooting a quick glare at him. "Good morning, Caroline,"
The blonde looks at her forced nonchalance incredulously. "Good morning? Is that all you have to say for yourselves? It's a great morning!"
Stefan furrowed his brows, leaning down slightly. "I– I can't tell, is she mad?"
"I have no idea," Athena mutters, looking at the frantic blonde worriedly. "Caroline, did you take one of your mom's Xanax again?"
Caroline stops her tirade, her finger midair and her lips parted around another accusing word. "What– no! I just can't believe that you two have been dating for god knows how long and you didn't tell me immediately!"
"We've only been together for two days,"
Caroline pauses again, her eyes narrowing in disbelief. "Two days?"
Athena and Stefan nod in unison.
"Oh, my god. So you're just idiots, that's it? Months– it's been months of you two running around in circles, like oh, no, Stefan doesn't like me, there's no way!" She pitches her voice up, mocking Athena in a way that makes the brunette glare, unamused. "Everyone and their mother knew you two were in love with each other, and you're telling me you've only been together for two days?"
"You know, I'm gonna get to class," Stefan kisses Athena's temple, ignoring her refusal of his departure. "This seems like a conversation between you two,"
"Stefan, don't you dare!" Athena calls out uselessly, watching him cross the parking lot with a mocking wave as Caroline drags her forward by her arm. "Ow, Caroline! Didn't you ever learn not to touch the art in a museum?"
Caroline scoffs, rolling her eyes. "I can't believe this– you have to tell me everything, and I mean everything."
Athena's eyes widen behind Stefan's sunglasses and she shakes her head stubbornly. "Don't you have to get ready for the pageant?"
Caroline stopped short, glaring at Athena knowingly. "You aren't getting out of this, Athena. I am not easily distracted!"
The brunette narrows her eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I'm pretty sure I saw that Elena was on the Founders' Court, too, right?"
"Oh, don't even get me started. She won't drop out, even after admitting she completely forgot about it! It's like it doesn't even matter to her!"
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"So, what, Elena's creepy uncle shows up and starts talking about some vampire-hunting artifact, and is suddenly worried about a niece he barely knows?" Athena furrows her brows as she wraps a strand of Caroline's blonde hair around the hot curling wand, looking at Damon's pacing form in the reflection of the mirror.
Damon shrugs, wiping a hand over his mouth. "He knows about the tomb, and about Jonathan Gilbert having a thing for Pearl. He obviously knows about Stefan and I, which will only cause problems. I mean, I already had to kill a history teacher for trying to out us to the Council, I will have no problem getting rid of John Gilbert."
Athena snorts a laugh, nodding in agreement. "I agree. Any relative of Elena's is an enemy of mine."
"I don't like when you guys talk murder with me around, it gives me the creeps."
Athena gives Caroline's reflection an apologetic glance. "Habit,"
The blonde smiles sarcastically. "That doesn't help in the slightest, Athena. But, um, I have a question,"
Damon waves a hand out, leaning against the doorway. "Shoot,"
"What about Katherine?"
"What about her?"
"Well, where does she play into all of this, you know? If she wasn't in the tomb, then where has she been for nearly two hundred years?" Caroline shrugs, watching Athena reach for the bottle of hairspray.
Damon sighs, his gaze turning bitter at the mention of the doppelgänger's absence in the recent century. "She's probably off breaking apart families and playing mind games. It's her favorite pastime. Why does it matter where she's been if she's not been here?"
Caroline bites her lip, still hesitant to voice anything about this world despite Athena's constant reassurances. "Well, what if she has been? Like, what if she's come back here before to see if you or Stefan were here, or if the tomb was open yet?"
"I would've known if she had come back here,"
Athena sighs, looking at Damon almost disappointedly. "Damon, come on,"
He waves her off, face scrunching up slightly. "No, no, not like that. I don't–"
Damon sighs frustratedly, sitting on a bench near the girls in front of the mirror. "Katherine has spent five hundred years wreaking havoc, it's what she does. She– she goes, and she manipulates people to get what she wants from them, whether it be sex, money, or protection. She always has a motive, okay? She is the most self-centered person I know, myself included."
Athena and Caroline share an eye roll at that.
"There was no point for Katherine to come back to Mystic Falls because Stefan and I were long gone, we weren't her playthings anymore. And whether or not she loved either of us, she never passed up an opportunity to use us. If Katherine had come back, I would've known, because she would've found me elsewhere, just to torment me in some way. She's been hiding from me. Me and Stefan both, I'm sure,"
Silence falls over the trio and Athena gently sets down the curling wand, running her fingers through Caroline's curls.
"She didn't have a reason to come back to Mystic Falls if you and Stefan weren't here," Caroline breaks the silence, turning to look at Damon who nods.
"That's what I said,"
"No, no," Caroline looks at Athena, then back to Damon, her eyes widening. "She didn't have a reason because you were both gone, but now you're back. But why are you back?"
Damon clasps his hands together, dark brows furrowing as he registers the blonde's words. "Well, Stefan originally came back for Elena, but that was obviously stupid of him."
"No," Athena stops, earning an incredulous look from Damon she quickly waves off. "No, I agree, he was stupid for that. But it's Elena. She's the doppelgänger, right? You said Katherine plays games, what if Elena is one of them? What if Katherine has come back to Mystic Falls already but we didn't know it because she looks just like Elena."
Damon wipes a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide in contemplation of the theory. "If we somehow didn't know that Katherine was in town, it's because she doesn't want us to yet. She's planning something, she's got to be."
"She might not have been in Mystic Falls since 1864 but that doesn't mean she hasn't talked to people from here," Caroline suggests, earning a look of encouragement from the two. "Well, why else would John Gilbert be in town? He's always been distant from Elena, and he's a total douche that knew about the tomb, and Pearl. How else would he know that, if not for Katherine?"
Athena scoffs, shaking her head in disbelief. "I am going to kill Elena Gilbert one day. All of this leads back to her, and her wretched ancestor. How bad can one's bloodline possibly be that it makes a stranger want to murder you?"
Caroline's eyes widen and she plugs her ears, earning a short glare from Athena that she shrugs off.
Damon shakes his head, running his hands through his hair as he stands. "I have to tell Stefan. If Katherine is in town, she's going to go straight for him."
Athena's eyes widened as Damon stalked off down the hallway, and she watched his silhouette in disbelief. "Is that a threat, or a warning?"
"Both!"
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"Oh, god," Caroline breathed, flattening the satin material of her green dress as Athena watched her pace while they announced the first few girls down the stairs. "I can't do this. I really can't,"
"Caroline, hey," Athena grabs her wrist, making the girl stop her frantic pacing. "Look at me."
Blue eyes meet brown, and Athena smiles softly at the panic in her eyes. It was utterly Caroline to be confident up until the very last second. "No one deserves this more than you, Caroline. You've worked hard your entire life, you constantly do good not only for yourself but for the community, and you're a great girl. And you're the Sheriff's daughter, so just threaten to have them arrested if you don't win."
Caroline huffs a laugh at that, and Athena nods at the slight success she'd had in calming the girl down. "I wish you'd competed with me, but I understand why you didn't,"
"Well, I'm happy to escort you no matter what," Athena shrugs her off, straightening her own dress out slightly. "Do I meet your standards? Am I good enough to walk you into a room full of stuffy old women who are clinging to the last bits of their youth?"
"You look gorgeous, Athena," Caroline smiles at her, glad to have the brunette there to calm her down. "Stefan is lucky."
Athena looks down at her black corset dress, admiring its intricate design and how it seemed to glimmer gold in the sunlight. "He is, isn't he?"
The two girls laugh, but they quickly sober when Carol Lockwood signals for Athena to go stand at the bottom of the staircase.
Caroline inhales sharply, but Athena adjusts the silver, diamond-encrusted clip holding her hair back in an elegant wave and gives her one last reassuring look before heading down the other staircase, her black, strappy heels clicking on the marbled tiles.
She takes her place at the bottom of the steps, eyes briefly searching for Stefan. He promised to meet her there in his best suit and tie, and she didn't want to miss out on it for a second.
"Ms. Caroline Forbes, and her escort, Athena Hunt,"
Athena claps politely, though her grin is radiant as Caroline comes down the stairs with a grin on her face that becomes more natural once her nerves ease away. She takes the blonde's hand and nods dutifully to the people standing by, including Jeremy who's escorting Elena.
The sun breaks out on them, and Caroline's dress glimmers in the light as they take their place across from one another in the lineup. Moments after, Elena and Jeremy do, too.
They all begin the waltz taught to them from a young age, the dance that has been ingrained into Caroline and Athena's brains since they started cheering all those years ago. Their hands hover a few inches apart from one another, and Athena's dress swishes along her ankles as they spin slowly, mirroring their previous move.
Though she fights the instinct, she wants to find Stefan in the crowd and see if he makes it. She was itching to ask him for a dance, as they always did at these events.
Finally, they meet, and they begin the true dance, stepping in tune with the strings playing gently.
Caroline laughs softly, and Athena looks at her curiously. "What?"
"I don't know," The blonde murmurs. "I just never thought that we'd be here, in this position."
"What position is that, exactly?"
"You with a boyfriend, me with," She narrows her eyes, doing her best to keep her lips from moving all that much so she doesn't lose her pageant-winning smile. "Matt. I always thought it'd be you and me, no matter what."
Athena's smile softens around the edges at Caroline's words. "It still is, Caroline. You're my best friend, no matter what happens. Just because we aren't together doesn't mean we can't still love and support one another, even when it's an outdated, demeaning public show of your talents and skills that are so much more than a simple waltz."
Caroline just barely hides an unattractive snort, and Athena grins in satisfaction. The music slows and they part once more, grinning knowingly at one another as they do.
Athena's eyes drift now that she's finished her duties as an escort, and she immediately finds the familiar green eyes, narrowed from the sun. Her heart races at the sight of Stefan, and he smiles to himself at the sound of it racing in his ears like a song.
It felt like the first time seeing her all over again, every day. He never wanted it to stop.
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"You look stunning," Stefan comes up behind Athena in the front row as the crowd gathers in the house again, the girls all taking their place on the stage. "I've been waiting all day to tell you that."
She hums, leaning back against his chest. "You look ravishing yourself, Mr. Salvatore," Athena tilted her head back, making him lean down slightly so she could whisper a few words into his ear. "I scouted a coat closet nearby. Just in case we get bored."
Stefan chuckles, his hands clasping together where they rested on her stomach and he gently swayed them both back and forth, his eyes shifting to where Caroline had found them with a smile. He waved at her, eyes drifting to where Elena stood in an elegant blue gown, he gave her a brief nod before his eyes fell back to where Athena rested in his arms.
Mayor Lockwood takes the stage and applause breaks out, but Athena doesn't bother. She's far too familiar with the man's behavior behind closed doors. "Before I crown the winner, I'd like to a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their effort to better our community."
Applause breaks out once more, and Athena's gaze cements on where Caroline's got her fingers wrung together anxiously.
"So, without further adieu, it is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Ms. Caroline Forbes!"
It takes a moment for the news to process, but Caroline's polite smile falls into a disbelieving look and Athena stands upright from her lax position on Stefan's chest with a wide-eyed stare and a grin that could blind someone.
Caroline turns to her, tears welling in her bright blue eyes as Athena steps up onto the small stage and hugs her. "I actually won,"
Athena squeezes her tightly, forgetting about the hours she'd spent on both of their hair and makeup. "I knew you would, Caroline,"
She lets the blonde go with a kiss on the cheek and steps back towards Stefan, who whistles into the applauding room, making a flush appear on Caroline's cheeks as the sash is put over her by the Mayor.
The crowd begins to disperse throughout the house as Caroline makes her rounds, thanking the Founders and whatnot, and Stefan spins Athena in his arms, making her face him.
"What?"
He sways them gently to the music being played, eyes searching the party for any wandering eyes. "What do you say we ditch this party and go have one of our own at the house?"
"I would say that's a wonderful idea, Mr. Salvatore," Athena's eyes light up with mischief, and they shift over his shoulder, meeting Caroline's for a moment before she makes a brief gesture that the blonde catches onto and waves them both off. "Take me home."
Stefan grinned, kissing her quickly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and directed her towards the door. "Anything for you, Ms. Hunt,"
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author's note; 28 chapters in and the plot finally starts,, im fucking great. also stefan will be telling Athena he's a ripper I promise it's coming we just needed this domestic moment I think
originally published; 12.7.20.
edited: 11.30.23.
- liz