Who: Buffy Summers, Elena and Jeremy Gilbert What: Hey Elena, thought you were traumatized before? WELCOME BACK PARTY FOR YOU VIA NEAR STAKING =D Where: Park in Lawrence and then Elphie's When: Tonight, 7 February 2012, now (11ish) Rating: T is for traumatized.
She couldn't believe it. Elena knew that Stefan had changed, that the chance of him ever being the person he'd been before was gone. He wasn't under Klaus' control anymore, he was free. And yet he had tried to turn her into a vampire despite knowing she didn't want to be one. And to make it worse, his method of killing her would have been to drive her off the very bridge which would have killed her before and had killed her parents. Oh, he was trying to call Klaus' bluff, to make him get rid of the hybrids, to control Klaus and he didn't care what his methods might cost. He said he had lost everything when he had agreed to go with Klaus to save Damon but didn't he see? That hadn't been what lost Elena to him. No. She had stubbornly held onto the hope that he'd come back. That they could overcome all of this. She had believed in him, believed that deep down he was still Stefan. Oh, she had learned the truth of the secrets he kept buried within him. But she still had believed.
She had been willing to move on. She couldn't deny what she was feeling for Damon, but it wasn't right. It wasn't the time. It didn't matter. Because she wanted to be there for him even if she refused to love a ghost. But this? This was pushing her too far. There was only so much abuse a person could take, only so much emotional turmoil before they cracked. Stefan hadn't lost her when he claimed to have. No, it was now. This moment. Because everything else? When he'd been compelled by Klaus, drugged on human blood. That could be explained away, could at least make sense that it wasn't really him. He was free of that now and he pulled this still. He knew this would hurt her more than anything. To nearly be forced into becoming a vampire, to see her life end where it should have ended over a year ago. The wound was ripped open. Everything that had gone on since the Salvatore Brothers had entered her life masking the pain, gone, reminding her of the pain and guilt. The fact she should have died there.
Stefan was gone now and she was waiting for Damon to pick her up. Waiting and pacing because it hurt so much. Elena felt sick. So incredibly sick by what had just happened. She was nothing more to Stefan now than a pawn to get the upper hand against Klaus. Because he couldn't have believed in her. And he had pushed her away despite her attempts to keep him from it. Maybe Damon would be the one to save him, but he had officially lost her. Breaking down despite her attempts not to as she really didn't want Damon to find her like this, Elena slid down against the wall of the bridge. Matt was right. She was stuck. All of them were. She was holding onto the girl she had been before, just as Caroline had been. The girl who didn't have to worry about vampires and werewolves and hybrids. Just school and cheer leading practice and meeting up with her wonderful boyfriend Matt. That girl had died and yet Elena held onto her, and she hated herself at times because she felt like she had disappointed her.
And then something changed. The backing of what she was leaning against was suddenly bark and she was sitting on grass, not concrete. Confused briefly, Elena stood up only to gasp as she was assaulted by memories. Memories of a lost year where she hadn't been in Mystic Falls but in Lawrence, Kansas. Where she had befriended people who should be fictional, lost Bonnie and Caroline when they returned back home, was dealing with detoxing Stefan and fighting her feelings for Damon. Every single tingling sensation in the back of her mind when something felt familiar yet shouldn't was there. The reasoning. How had she forgotten all that had happened?
"What the...." Taking a uneven breath, Elena looked around, wiping her eyes, trembling. This wasn't the bridge. This was definitely a park. A familiar park at that. Pulling out her phone, she tried Damon's number for Mystic Falls but got nothing. So she tried another number, only for Lawrence and it went through though there was no answer. "Really? Really?!" Because this was clearly where she wanted to be now. Maybe it would be easier, but she didn't know how long she'd been gone here, didn't know if anyone she knew was still here.... or would remember her.
"I can't believe this.. I really can't believe this..."
Buffy was having a hard time adjusting to life in Lawrence. There were rules here that she didn’t understand and didn’t exactly agree with. There were vampires running around unchecked and demons she wasn’t allowed to kill. Okay, so she got the whole possession thing. She wasn’t about to kill a human to get at a demon, but the fact that all they could do was keep exorcising the bastards? Well, it sucked. These weren’t her rules and she really hated having to learn the new ones and adjust her way of thinking.
The only thing that really kept Buffy sane was going on her patrols. It felt normal to be walking amongst the gravestones with stake in hand. She didn’t really know what she was looking for most of the time since vampires looked different here sometimes, but she had a few people from the boards she was looking out for. Still, she was smart enough to know that she could be taken unawares by some weird demon monster thing she knew nothing about. Yet Buffy was still the slayer and she still took that job seriously. She wasn’t about to give up the fight, even if she wasn’t the only one left.
When Buffy heard a voice not far off she stopped and listened to the darkness. It wasn’t a familiar voice, but she decided to check it out anyway. She crept down low and hid behind a tree as she watched the girl. It took her a moment to realize exactly who it was. Buffy had seen Katherine on the board before bothering people and running her mouth. If other people’s reactions were to be believed Katherine wasn’t one of the “good” vampires and really? As far as Buffy was concerned, all vampires without a soul were bad.
There wasn’t a whole lot of time to think about a witty pun as Buffy leapt out from behind the tree, stake in hand. She planted her feet right in front of Katherine, spun the stake in her hand and grinned. “Well, you can believe that you are about to go bye-bye. That’s something!” she said, poised for attack.
And suddenly there was someone in front of her. Okay, she looked familiar. Blond. Stake. Oh this was just marvelous. She remembered that Buffy had been here before while she’d been in Lawrence. Twice if she remembered correctly. She just had never really talked to the Slayer before. She’d been busy worrying about Caroline and teasing Elphie as well as bothering Anakin. After all, even though people were displaced, that didn’t mean everyone spoke to one another. There were so many people and so many who came and went that it was hard to keep track of them all.
But this? Oh this was so not good. So very far from good. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening. Either Katherine was here or another vampire who had her face. Why else would Buffy be twirling a stake and telling her she was about to go ‘bye bye’? She had to think fast. Well, she wasn’t wearing her vervain necklace at the moment. Or any necklace to be exact. Too bad it wasn’t light outside so she couldn’t just show that she was walking in sunlight and thus not a vampire.
Holding her hands up, Elena let out a weak laugh. She really didn’t have the energy to be dealing with this. She was still reeling from what Stefan had done. His comment on not caring what she thought about him. Right now, though? It was keeping herself from being staked because some vampire had her face and it was most likely Katherine.
“So... funny thing. I’m not Katherine. I’m Elena. I used to be here, got sent back to Mystic Falls and now I’m back. See, funny!”
Of course, if people knew that Katherine enjoyed pretending to be Elena? Well, the plea might not exactly work as well as she hoped. Still, she had to try. And if that didn’t work... Elena had no idea. It would probably end up in a fight where she didn’t have super strength or her face vamping out and most likely ending up with Elena in pain. Though she’d take the pain to death. Smiling weakly, Elena kept her hands in a sign of surrender.
“Oh, please,” Buffy raised her eyebrows at Katherine and tilted her head to the side. “I know you love playing the ‘I’m Elena’ card, but it’s not going to work. You’ve made some people pretty upset around here, but luckily for them I’m really good at this whole slaying stuff.”
Though Buffy had to admit it was a little weird to come across a vampire that wasn’t automatically trying to fight her. Vampires where she came from knew who she was and would do anything to take her out. Still, she couldn’t hold the things she knew about vampires to be the truth anymore. There were other more dangerous vampires out there. Ones that could connive and trick and look like someone else. She had a bit of hesitation. She wasn’t sure how the seal worked, but Elena could be back for all she knew and her friends wouldn’t be happy if Buffy accidentally killed the wrong doppelganger.
And that answered Elena’s question. Katherine was definitely here. Because a random vampire with her face wouldn’t play the ‘I’m Elena’ game. Random vampire with her face wouldn’t know who she was to begin with. But at least Buffy was hesitating. Hesitation was good. It meant that there was a chance that she wouldn’t get herself killed because Katherine had to be around and messing things up. Just how long had she been gone and how long had Katherine been here? That was a question she could ask later. Right now, she had to just survive this whole ordeal.
“Katherine does that... but okay, you know her tricks. Which is good. And bad for me. But I swear, I’m actually Elena. Katherine wears a necklace with lapis lazuli that has been magicked so she can walk in the sunlight. Not sunny out but I’m not wearing a necklace. Do you have vervain? It weakens vampires from my world but is harmless to humans. Um... any way I can prove to you I’m definitely not Katherine?”
Rambling? Slightly. But this situation definitely warranted it. Because Elena preferred living and all that fun stuff. She might be emotionally traumatized and in a bad place mentally right now, but she at least wanted to live still. And if she died, she would become a vampire thanks to Stefan’s oh so ‘brilliant’ plan on controlling Klaus.
Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed. She was getting really bored of listening to the innocent act. It didn’t help that Buffy really needed to get some frustration out. She hadn’t killed anything since she arrived and Spike was around making her life even more complicated.
“Blah, blah, blah. I don’t have time for this.” And without another word Buffy grabbed Katherine by the collar of her shirt and threw her against the tree. It all happened in a flash and before Buffy knew it she was holding the stake up against Katherine’s chest having hesitated once again before digging the stake deep. There was a real sense of fear in the girl’s eyes. There was no bumpy head, no fangs and for some reason Buffy just couldn’t bring herself to do it with the chance that it really could be Elena.
Buffy held the girl there against the tree for a while in silence. She wasn’t sure what she was waiting for, but she knew she couldn’t kill this person unless she showed her true colors. So, Buffy released her hold and let the girl back down on the ground. “Get out of here,” she said. “Get out of my sight.”
She had no time to react. Even with Alaric’s training, Elena had no time to react before she was thrown against a tree with a stake poised above her heart. Eyes growing wide and going pale, Elena waited. She was going to die and then turn into a vampire to promptly be killed all over again. This was so not the way to come back to Lawrence. Okay, so having to return to the apocalypse was not exactly a happy thing but still. It was currently better than the alternative in regards to dealing with Stefan and the memories.
And then nothing happened and the two seemed to be caught in a staring contest before she was released. Not exactly what she had planned on but she wasn’t about to just stay there. Shaking, Elena just jogged out of the park and looked down the street. Based on her location, Elphie’s was closest. Assuming the green skinned witch was even here still. Trying to shake her nerves and not doing a great job at it, Elena made her way down the familiar street and found the spare key before letting herself in.
“Elphie, Galinda? Are either of you two here?”
Noticing the kitten Elphie had gotten for Galinda come up to her, Elena picked her up and stroked the kitten’s fur as she looked around. Okay. One of them at least was still here. That was good. Very good.
Jeremy hadn’t exactly been too happy about showing up in Kansas the same day that his sister went missing from it. He did a lot of moping and a lot of not really caring about what was going on outside or on the networks. Yeah, he knew he had to go back to school and everything, but he decided he deserved some time off. At least he had met Galinda and Elphaba. They were really nice. They didn’t have to take care of him like that, but they did it out of the kindness of their hearts. He wasn’t really sure what he would have done if Galinda hasn’t taken him under her wing... probably starve.
Jer was sitting at his desk in his room doodling in his notebook when he heard a familiar voice. He knew it couldn’t be Katherine. She wasn’t invited into this house and that voice also belonged to his sister. He sat there frozen for a second, not trusting his own ears. He listened intensely, but there was no doubt that someone was in the house. He should check it out either way. So, Jer got up from his desk and went into the living room only to freeze when he saw Elena standing there with a kitten in hand.
“Elena?” he asked. “I can’t believe it. You’re here!”
Okay, not exactly who she was expecting to see. She had been about to go check the attic just in case Elphie was doing that thing again where she locked herself up in the attic with her monkeys. Really, it wasn’t that uncommon though between her and Galinda, the two usually were able to get her to come out. But before she could head to the stairs, Jeremy was standing there. Was this a hallucination? Trauma induced hallucination? Between the bridge and then the incident in the park, it would make sense, right? But why would she be hallucinating Jeremy there?
“Ohmigod, Jer...”
Putting the kitten on the floor, Elena quickly crossed over to her brother and hugged him tightly. Partially because she was making sure he was there, but also because like it or not, she was extremely shaken by what had just happened. Everything. So while she’d been hoping for one of the witches from Oz, seeing her baby brother was definitely okay in Elena’s book. She wasn’t happy that he now was involved in this mess as well, but at least he was there and alive and didn’t seem like he hated her.
Jeremy didn’t have much time to process everything before Elena was hugging him. He grinned and hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her. He almost forgot how tiny Elena was and she felt really shaken there in his arms. They grew up together, he could tell when something was going on, but he allowed Elena to hug him as long as she liked before pulling away and taking a good hard look at her, not letting go of her arms.
“Everyone said you were here when I first showed up, but then you were just... gone.” He shook his head. “What’s wrong?” he asked finally. “Did you just get here? Why are you shaking?” It was a lot of questions, but Jer had a million more to ask too.
Once the hug ended, Elena stared where she was as Jeremy took a look at her. Well, he did keep hold of her arms but she didn’t really mind it too much at the time. After all, this wasn’t like when everyone had ganged up on her to keep her in the Gilbert house to the point of Jeremy and Damon babysitting her and Bonnie placing a spell to keep her from leaving. This was trying to figure out what was going on, so she let it slide.
“Yeah... it happens here sometimes. People get pulled here and sent back without warning.... How long have you been here?”
The fact that he was at Elphie’s wasn’t too surprising. If he had shown up when she left, she could see one of the witches taking him in to help given he was her brother. But then he was asking questions in succession that she had to find a way to keep up with them.
“Yeah, very long night... both in Mystic Falls and then just now at the park. So. Katherine’s here as well, then?”
She was trying to stay calm, trying to get her bearings but she had been pushed to the brink this time so even though she was attempting to focus on the conversation at hand, she was still beyond mentally traumatized by what Stefan did. The fact she nearly got killed when she showed up in Lawrence just made it worse.
Jeremy let go of Elena as soon as he started getting answers. He hadn’t really realized he was doing it, except that he didn’t really want to let go of her for fear that she might disappear again. He cleared his throat as he listened to her. She wasn’t giving him very straight forward answers, but she didn’t look like she needed to be jumped on so he decided to back down and let her tell him what was going on in her own time.
“Yeah, Katherine showed up shortly after I did. How did you---” but he cut the question short and didn’t finish it. “She’s been teaming up with the Joker and this Mor..Moriarty? Whatever. I don’t know him and I try to stay out of it. You want something to drink? Eat? You look really pale.”
Jer didn’t know what Elena had just been through, but it didn’t look good which meant it probably had something to do with Stefan or Klaus. “Come on. I can make you a sandwich.”
Jeremy not pushing for answers? Strange but she knew it would come out eventually. Still hearing that Katherine was teaming up with the Joker and Moriarty was not surprising though worrisome. True it had been a while since she’d read The Final Problem for a project but she remembered that he wasn’t someone to mess with. Holy villainous team up, Batman. And it fit given the Joker was involved. But Jeremy seemed to pick up that she was far from okay given his comment in regards to her looking pale and offering to make her something to eat or drink.
“I’m not really hungry, but I know Elphie usually keeps tea around...” Because tea was calming and caffeine probably wasn’t a good thing to have when she was this worked up. Her stomach was still in knots as it were. So food and coffee were definitely not in her best interests.
“Do you know if Lexi has made any progress with Stefan?”
She tried not to let her emotions get the best of her when she mentioned her ex’s name, but it was rather hard not to have her voice go hard at the question given what had just happened. Oh, Jeremy was definitely right. She was upset and it was because of Stefan and Klaus. Klaus indirectly as Stefan had been using her to control the Original, but still.
Of course Elena would be asking about Stefan. It was typical Elena behavior. Jeremy had to suppress an eyeroll as he made his way into the kitchen to find Elphie’s tea. When Elena joined him he shrugged his shoulders and looked away.
“I don’t know. All I know is she has him locked up somewhere. Somewhere Katherine really wants to get inside of. Are you seriously worried about Stefan right now, though?” he asked. “Elena, come on. What happened to you? Did Stefan do this?”
It wasn’t like Jeremy not to push for answers. He had tried to give Elena a little bit of time before giving in to his curiosity, but it was short lived. He needed this to make sense. Nothing else in Kansas did and now that his sister was here? Well, he thought that maybe the answers she could provide would make her feel better.
It was typical Elena behavior to worry about the Salvatore brothers. Then again, this time there was more behind it than just her feelings for them. So much more. Pain, trauma, worry, realizing that she would never be able to look at Stefan the same again. Not after what he had pulled. Not after what it reawakened in her in regards to that night. The panic and fear. And he hadn’t cared. He hadn’t cared at all.
The answer about Stefan didn’t help much as it seemed Stefan might still be in South Dakota and Lexi would expect her to go help and she didn’t know if she could. Not now. Not after what had happened. It didn’t matter that the Stefan here hadn’t done that yet. He was capable of it. He was at the point where he would do it when he had his freedom. And because of that, she had wanted to know, to see if she could get out of Stefan duty.
“A lot... And yeah. He did. What point are you from and how much do you know on what’s going on with Stefan so I know where to start explaining?”
Was she annoyed that Jeremy was pushing? Sort of. She wanted to forget but she would never be able to. So she figured she would at least figure out where in their life he was from. So she was just going to tell him. So much tension had come between them from Elena not keeping Jeremy in the loop that she was going to try to fix that. Especially here at the end of the world in a universe that wasn’t their own. She would skip the whole compelling him to leave thing, because, well, she just wouldn’t do any good here beyond anger and that was the last thing either needed. But the basics. If he knew about Jenna and Uncle John. If he knew about the hybrids, her blood being needed to create them. She needed to know what he knew to at least get herself situated.
Jeremy tried to keep the surprised look off his face when Elena said she would tell him what was going on, but he couldn’t. His eyebrows raised and he tried to hide it behind filling the teapot with water. It wasn’t like Elena to keep him in the loop. Nearly everything Jeremy knew about the supernatural world came from his own research and even after everything they had been through together it always felt like Elena thought it would be better for him if he just stayed out of it. He might be the younger sibling, but he always felt protective of Elena. He was the man of the house, really.. they’d lost everything together.
“I, uh..” he wasn’t really sure where to start, but if Elena was from his future then a simple answer would let her know what point in time he was from. So, he placed the teapot on the stove and ignited the burner.
“I died,” he said bluntly. There was really no easy way of saying it. “But Bonnie? She... she brought me back. That’s the last thing I remember.” He really missed Bonnie. A lot. And it wasn’t helping that Vicki was around and obviously pining for him. There had been a time in his life when he would take her up on that offer, when the only thing he wanted was to be reunited with her or to mean something to her, but now? Now there was Bonnie and Jeremy loved her.
Normally, yes, Elena wanted to keep Jeremy out of these things, to keep him protected from the craziness. He may be the man of the house, but she was the older sibling and she had to look after him. But in this place? She couldn’t have Damon compel him to send him somewhere safe. It didn’t work that way. So just.. telling him what happened was the best course of action. That and following that whole thing, she had been getting better at keeping Jeremy in the loop as much as she hated it.
“Okay... so, about five months before me...” Okay. There was a lot to go over with that. Marvelous. The question was, what did she answer and what didn’t she? Because with the ghost thing, Anna... what happened with Bonnie. Would he ask her? Or was it better to leave that out? She knew that he loved Bonnie but he had loved Anna as well. That was what the entire problem had been. Him not letting go of Anna and not telling Bonnie. But did it tie into what had happened?
“A lot has happened since then. Damon got bit by a werewolf...” Honestly, Elena wasn’t certain what all Jeremy knew about that. She knew he’d been helping look for her when he’d gotten shot, but she didn’t know if he knew the circumstances of what had been going on, “Werewolf bites are fatal to vampires but apparently Klaus’ blood is the cure. So Stefan traded ten years of service to Klaus for the cure.... they were gone for three months and then they came back. I’m not really certain why, but Stefan wasn’t Stefan anymore. He was more of the him that’s here right now, or at least was when I got sent back. A Ripper. Killing for fun because Klaus had him on human blood.... “
Pacing, Elena sighed. So much had happened in those six months she’d been have home, and the five she had to fill Jeremy in on. She so needed something stronger than tea at the moment, but no matter. She was going to at least let Jeremy know. She owed him that much.
“For a while, Klaus compelled him to turn off his emotions so that he’d feed from me to prove a point. But when we tried to have Klaus killed after we detoxed Stefan, he saved him and was released from the compulsion and his bond to Klaus.... So he decided to make Klaus suffer and since Klaus now wants me alive so he can create hybrids, Stefan threatened to turn me into a vampire by forcing his blood down my throat and nearly killing me on the bridge where mom and dad....” Voice breaking, Elena looked down. So much for holding it together. “All to call Klaus’ bluff. No compulsion. No addiction. It was just...Stefan....”
And that was why it hurt so much. There was no way to explain it away. Nothing to hold onto. Stefan had been free of the blood and Klaus and he had done that, despite knowing what it would do.
“I should have died there with them, Jer. And he knew that. He knew that because he was the one who saved me and then he nearly drives me off the bridge and I just....”
Gripping the counter in the kitchen, Elena struggled to catch her breath. She hated being this upset over it. Showing Jeremy that she was hurt, but given she had just come from that point and had nearly been killed by Buffy and thus, turned into a vampire? Her nerves were so far from fine that all she could do was try not to completely break down.
“That’s the basic overview... but I was waiting for Damon to pick me up at the bridge when I showed up.... so I’m still.... sorry.”
Jeremy listened as Elena told him the general gist of everything that had happened between the time that he showed up here and she did. He didn’t really like what he was hearing either, but he managed to keep himself busy with the tea. When the kettle whistled he turned the stove off and got a mug down to poor the liquid into. He put a teabag in the mug and passed it to his sister, settling down into a seat across from her.
When Elena got to the part about Stefan trying to kill her he could feel the heat rising up his neck. He didn’t want to make any of this worse for Elena by reacting badly, but he really wanted to put a stake through Stefan for what he did. Still, it wouldn’t help Elena any to see him upset about it so he did his best to keep his rage hidden. This was about Elena and she didn’t need to be worrying about him on top of everything else.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” Jeremy told his sister. “It’s Stefan who should be sorry.” He wasn’t really sure what to say beyond that. It was a lot to take in, so he let out a sigh and made his way over to Elena just to be close to her with no table between them. That’s all he could really do.. was be there for her.
Jeremy was quiet for a long time letting Elena drink her tea. Maybe the best thing he could do was to get his sister’s mind off of everything that had happened. “They kept your old room for you... Galinda and Elphaba, I mean. It’s still there. I think they knew you’d come back.”
Taking the tea thankfully, Elena held onto the mug as she spoke. She could tell that Jeremy was angry, she didn’t blame him for that at all, still she was thankful he didn’t seem to be getting ready to rush off into a fight with no idea on what to do and potentially getting himself killed. Because after everyone that had been lost in the wake of Klaus’ arrival in Mystic Falls, Elena couldn’t lose Jeremy like that as well. So instead she just nodded some at his words on how Stefan was the one who needed to be sorry. Normally she’d admonish Jeremy for that as it could be taken as a threat, but honestly? She was right there with him. She wanted nothing to do with Stefan at the moment but she knew Lexi would get her to help anyway. She could help but that didn’t mean she was letting him back into her life.
As the two stood in silence, Elena sipped her tea, blinking at Jeremy mentioned Elphie and Galinda keeping her room the same. It was sweet of them. After all, she was back and forth between here and Damon’s or before she left, South Dakota but they clearly knew she’d been gone. She still wasn’t sure how long it had been but she was pretty certain by the way Jeremy worded his comment that it had been long enough that her absence would be noticed.
“Really?” Smiling faintly, she shook her head some, “I’m sure Galinda pushed for that. I’m sure you’ve noticed she’s the more optimistic one of the two.” Elena adored both of the witches, they each brought something to their lives here. Elphie with her cynicism and practicality and Galinda with her belief in the goodness of others. She knew that hadn’t always been the case for the blond, but it seemed that being here and where she was from in her timeline brought it out in her. It was refreshing, really, especially in a place like this.
“Yeah,” Jeremy nodded and have a smile to Elena. If he could do anything for his sister right then he thought it was to just act normal. It sounded like she needed some normal in her life and if that wasn’t the case and she wanted to cry or yell or scream instead? Well, he would be right there for her too. He didn’t really want to let her out of his sight, but she had a rough day so she was probably tired.
“I’m really glad you’re here,” he said finally, but then had to correct himself almost immediately. “I mean, even though that sounds really selfish. I just mean I missed you.” He gave Elena another haphazard smile and then drew in a deep breath before standing up.
“You look like you need some sleep,” he said, but then he realized that maybe sleeping might be hard for her. “Or if you can’t sleep we can just watch some TV on the couch or something? Whatever you want.”
“It doesn’t sound that selfish. Mostly because I’ve been here before and I get how it can get lonely even when you make friends. But I think I’d rather be here than back at Mystic Falls so you know what, it’s fine. And you being here helps. I mean.. .I’d prefer you not involved in this fight but I really don’t have a say in it...” This time. Because the Seal had a mind of its own and Elena long since had learned not to question it, even when she really wanted to. Like the Katherine thing. Did it really have to send her back and bring Katherine in her place? Thankfully both Damon and Lexi were there so they could have warned the others, but still. Hopefully she hadn’t done too much damage in the time she’d been there.
Standing up as well, Elena contemplated the comment on her looking like she needed sleep. Did she? Sure but her mind was too wired even as her body was exhausted. She was panicked and upset and worried. She knew she probably wouldn’t die now that she was safe at Elphie’s and if Galinda came home, well, her magic was in protection so there was that as well. Still. Sleep wasn’t something the brunette wasn’t up to at the moment.
“Watching TV on the couch sounds good. Anything that’s normal.” Because Jeremy was right, in that moment, the thing Elena needed most was some sense of normalcy especially in a place like this where normal never lasted long. And even though she knew she should probably let the others know she was there, those she had befriended her first time there as well as those from home, right now, Elena just wanted to spend a normal night with her brother as she worked on calming down. Would a time come that she’d cry and rage and break down? Perhaps. But right now wasn’t that time. As such, the eighteen year old smiled faintly at Jeremy before heading to the living room and curling up on the couch to search for something to watch. Who knew, perhaps the drone of the television would help her fall into a dreamless sleep. That actually was probably the ideal situation, all things considered.