20|MISS MYSTIC FALLS

Gemma frowns down at the small succulent she's holding in her hand, her eyebrows wrinkling as she gazes down at the dull plant. Her lips part in a frustrated exhale, her other hand gripping her cellphone tightly as her stare morphs into one of annoyance. "I don't like this," she speaks into the device.

"You've had her for an hour," Willow says in disbelief, her voice cracking in obvious irritation.

Gemma had given the blonde therapist a run for her money in the past few days. What with it not being safe to go in the woods, and Gemma's too short attention span— as Willow calls it— the two women have had more sessions in the past week than ever before.

"I don't have a green thumb," the Salvatore admits. "Plants don't like me."

"Plants don't have feelings!"

"Why would you say that?" Gemma pulls the plant to her chest as if it heard Willow. "That's very inconsiderate of you."

"I have a session in ten minutes, Gemma. I can't handle you right now."

"Handling me is your job."

"No, helping you handle yourself is my job."

"Tomato, tomato."

"Don't make me cancel your next session," Willow threatens. "You know I hate that saying."

"Why though?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Bye now."

Gemma opens her mouth to reply but instead hears the dial tone, signaling that Willow had indeed hung up to prepare for her next session. The female Salvatore thinks it's selfish, honestly. How dare her therapist therapy other people into getting better? How hero of the doctor.

"What are you doing?"

Gemma jolts in surprise, her expression contorting into a deep grimace whenever the plant almost tumbles out of her hand. She slips her phone into her back pocket and cradles the succulent with both hands, narrowing her eyes at her older brother. "What do you mean, what am I doing?"

"Someone's been ringing the bell for the past two minutes and you're standing in the middle of the foyer talking to a plant."

"I was talking to Willow," she mutters.

Damon makes a sound of approval before stalking toward the door and pulling it open, his shoulders stiffening. Gemma, curious about Damon's sudden tenseness, shuffles forward until she's directly behind him but still able to see over his shoulder.

"Oh," she mumbles.

"I suppose I should be grateful," the eldest Salvatore snides. "You learned how to use the bell."

"I'm here on behalf of my mother," Anna strolls in past Damon, her arm bumping into his.

"On behalf of or in spite of?"

"I'm sorry about what the other vampires did to Gemma and Stefan."

Gemma winces before clenching her jaw, staring down at the teenager with a stony expression. She knew Pearl and Anna didn't really have a part in what happened to her, but it still stung. What happened left another incident on the long list of reasons Gemma's screwed up in the head. The Salvatore wasn't quite ready to let it go yet.

"You're playing house with half a tomb of really pissed off vampires," Damon snaps. "What did you think was going to happen?"

"My mom is devastated; they tried to over throw her."

"Funny," Gemma comments. Anna raises her eyebrows in silent question and the dark haired vampire smiles dryly, reiterating. "Funny that you think we care what your mother is. Funny that you're here, acting like you haven't caused us trouble since the moment you stepped into town. Funny that you—"

"Thank you, Gemma," Damon smiles tightly, pressing a firm hand to her back. The female Salvatore accepts the subtle reprimand. No angering the eye doctor, got it. "Why isn't Pearl here telling us this?"

"She doesn't really do apologies," Anna says.

"Well, it's a coincidence, 'cause I don't do forgiveness. Not when Gemma's involved. Just run along, and if you're going to continue playing house with these little vampire pets, you might wanna stop robbing the blood bank dry because they're onto it."

"I haven't been to the local blood bank in at least a week."

"Then it's one of your others."

"The others are gone, Damon."

"Well, where did they go?"

"They weren't cut out for this town. After what happened with your brother and Gemma, my mom kicked them out and they took off. It's just us and Harper now."

"What a nice sentiment," Gemma hums, moving closer to the girl. "It was nice seeing you again, but I really must see you out." She wraps an arm around the girl's shoulders and steers her toward the front door. "Damon's going to have his usual fit in a few minutes, and we don't like guests over to witness those."

"Wh—"

"Bye, bye now!" Gemma shoves the girl out of the threshold and slams the door behind her, her face falling into a blank expression once she turns to face her brother again. He gazes at her with evident irritation, his arms folded across his chest. "What now?" Gemma wonders.

"Why are you always putting the blame on me?"

"Because I'm perfect," she states in an obvious tone. "Why would anything ever be my fault?"

Damon scoffs out a laugh before spinning on his heel and trekking further into the house. Gemma watches him with a small smile, amusement coursing through her at an exhilarating rate. It's been a moment since she's fulfilled her younger sibling duties and annoyed Damon. Looks like she has a long day ahead of her.

••

A choked gasp leaves Gemma's lips whenever the shrill ringing of her phone interrupts the God forsaken meditation Willow had put her up to. The Salvatore never thought she'd be more thankful to hear her phone ring. Although, when Elena Gilbert flashes across the screen, she's starting to doubt her luck. She unfolds her legs and flops down on the floor, pressing accept call before holding the device to her ear. She immediately begins making obnoxious beeping noises before schooling her voice into a robotic tone, "The number you've dialed has been changed, disconnected, or is no longer in service. Goodby—"

"Oh shoot, here I was calling to pick up the three bottles of Bourbon I ordered."

"Say again?" Gemma hums, her lips stretching into a small smile.

"Gemma?" Elena asks, her voice laced with disbelief. "It can't be, it said your number was disconnected!"

"Yeah, yeah, spit it out, peach. What can I do for you?"

"You make it sound like I only talk to you when I need something," the Gilbert says, mildly upset.

Gemma sighs and lets herself sink further into the floor, adjusting her position so her back can flatten against the ground. It gets hard carrying the weight of good looks and wit in the family, but she was just burdened with it.

"Listen, peach, I'm on a time crunch. Spit it out or get in line."

"Well, now I don't want to tell you."

"Elena," Gemma says slowly. "I'm m— meditating. What do you want from me?"

There's a long pause on the other end of the phone, "are you really?"

Gemma begins making the obnoxious noises again, only stopping whenever Elena mutters a half ass agreement to telling her what she wants.

"I want you to come to the Miss Mystic Falls pageant."

Gemma gapes, her eyes widening. She almost ends the call so she can go look in the mirror to make sure she's still Gemma Salvatore. She doesn't do pageants. Ever. Nor will she start now. "Why would you ever ask me that?"

"I'm, um competing this year, and I'd really like it if you came to watch."

Gemma purses her lips, "I'm busy that day."

"What day?"

"Whatever day the pageant is."

"Gem, you know I wouldn't ask if I—

"Yes, you would."

"Okay, I would, but that's not the point. I enjoy your company, you make things fun. I'll need some fun before, during and after this pageant."

Gemma exhales, "why are you even doing it if you're going to be this miserable?"

"My mom wanted me to," Elena murmurs. "She signed me up before she died."

Gemma grits her teeth and lets her eyes slip closed as frustration takes over. She wishes the ground would swallow her up, literally. There's no way in hell she wants to go to this pageant, but she doesn't want to refuse Elena either; not after the Gilbert threw around the dead mom card. "What's..." Gemma huffs, "what's the dress code?"

"You'll come?" The human gasps, her tone already excited. "You're serious?"

"Yes."

"You can— you can wear whatever you're comfortable in but I think they prefer something classy."

"Sweatpants and a hoodie, got it."

"Gemma... thank you."

"Don't mention it, peach. Seriously, don't mention it. Stef's more prone to murder these days, short fuse and all that."

"Wait, wh—"

"Oh, look at the time. I've got to go."

Gemma abruptly ends the call whenever Damon strolls into the main room where she was meditating. He looks her up and down for a long second before squinting, his lips pressed into a thin line. Gemma raises her eyebrows in question, tilting her head to the side like a puppy. "Something wrong?"

"My furniture," he scowls. "All of my furniture is moved an inch to the right."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Your google search history is, will moving all of my brother's furniture an inch to the right piss him off?"

Gemma hesitates, "did it work?"

Damon's glare hardens if possible before he pauses all at once, his face falling slack as he inclines his head to the side. It's obvious that he's listening in to something, seeing as his eyes have gained a far away look.

"What is it?" Gemma questions, standing up from the ground and shuffling closer to her brother.

He presses a finger to his lips before motioning for her to follow him, his quiet footsteps leading them down to where the cellar is. Gemma's never been a fan of small spaces. Maybe it's totally unrelated to her past, but she deeply doubts it.

"Well, well," Damon begins.

Gemma looks up at the sound of rustling, her eyes blowing wide when she sees Stefan standing in front of a freezer filled to the brim with blood bags. It seems that her little brother's relapsed into human blood. The female Salvatore has half a second to feel sorrow for him before Damon's smug voice fills the air.

"He's a liar and a thief. So, when were you gonna share?"

"Go ahead, help yourselves." He says blankly.

"No, no, no, I'm talking about the fact that you're a closet blood junkie."

"So, I'm drinking blood again," Stefan scoffs. "You're the one that shoved it onto me, what's your problem? I have it under control."

Gemma makes a face. Stashing a freezer with blood bags is under control? She'd hate to see him on a bad day.

"Under control?" Damon hisses, "you robbed the hospital!"

"So, what's your point?"

Damon stares at his brother in disbelief before shaking his head. "Fine, whatever, drink up. Just remember, we're trying to keep a low profile. Why don't you just walk up to Sheriff Forbes and ask her to tap a vein?"

Gemma sighs heavily and leans against one of the brick walls, folding her arms across her chest.

"Have my actions negatively impacted both of you? I can't imagine what that feels like."

"I haven't done anything to you since like, the first week I came to Mystic Falls!" Gemma defends herself, her voice cracking.

"Speaking of things Gemma's done to you, how's Elena liking this new you?" Damon blurts.

Gemma blinks, "pardon?"

"Nothing's changed, I'm still the same person," Stefan states.

"Clearly."

"Elena doesn't need to know anything yet."

Gemma can't imagine it'll be long before Elena does find out though. The human has a way of prying into things that aren't particularly her business.

"You've been off of the human stuff for years, Stefan," Damon tells him. "If you're having trouble controlling—"

"I'm not having trouble."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Damon snaps, "I know what it's like. That Jekyll and Hyde feeling, that switch, sometimes it goes off and you snap. Right now is not a good time for me to be worried about you snapping."

"I know it pains you to see this but I'm fine, okay? I'm fine."

Gemma frowns as she watches her younger brother stalk off. She shares a knowing look with Damon before running a hand through her hair, shrugging her shoulders. "He's obviously not taking advice about the word fine."

Damon side eyes her, "you think?"

••

It's later during the next day— the next day, yes Miss Mystic Falls— that Gemma and Damon try to seek out Elena. Gemma convinced her brother that Elena should know the truth (the vampire started to feel guilty for lying, sue her) about Stefan, and that maybe she could even convince the boy to go back on animal blood.

After asking a few people and getting some very strange looks, Gemma finds Elena's dressing room. She knocks on it a few times before pausing, pulling it open when there are no sounds of protest. Damon urges her into the room with haste, not wanting to get caught, before shutting the door behind him.

"What are you guys doing?" Elena asks, her eyes wide. "You can't be back here."

Gemma turns to look at the girl, her voice dying in her throat at the sight of her. Heat spreads over her skin and her eyes widen in the slightest bit, the Gilbert girl shifting under her gaze. Elena was captivating, and Gemma didn't mean in the mainstream 'she'd never noticed how beautiful she was until now' kind of way. She means 'i want nothing more than to photograph you in every way possible' kind of way. The sunlight streaming in through the window makes Elena's eyes look like amber, and her cheekbones glint in—

"Earth to Gemma," Damon snaps his fingers in front of the woman's face. "Houston, we have a problem."

Gemma side eyes him, "yeah, you." She looks back at Elena, blinking at the girl's flushed cheeks before she clears her throat, shoving her hands into her pockets. "We need to talk."

"Does it have to be right now?" Elena asks.

"Yes," Damon says. "Normally, I would have a completely different outlook of what I'm about to tell you but since it could really inconvenience me, I'll squeal."

"What he means to say, is that we're worried for our brother," Gemma grits out tightly. "We think you can help."

"What are you talking about?"

"Stefan's still drinking human blood," Damon admits.

"What?" Elena exclaims, her eyes widening.

Gemma vaguely wonders why it's such a surprise to the girl. She did kind of warn her that Stefan would be a problem.

"Yeah," Damon nods. "A month ago, I would've rejoiced but with the council back on alert, it is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle."

"I know he's been a little edgy but he said that was normal," Elena breathes, still shell shocked.

"He has a fridge full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house."

Elena sits down on the nearby couch, shaking her head. "Oh, my God."

"He has no idea what normal is, his entire existence isn't normal. Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood but he spent all this time fighting it when he should have been learning to control it and now it's controlling him instead."

"I can't believe this," Elena says. "I mean, it's Stefan we're talking about here."

Gemma raises her eyebrows, "remember the conversation we had the other day? It's time to start thinking about that. Stefan on human blood is the worst thing that could happen. He'll say anything, and he'll do anything because he's not gonna want to stop."

"How do you two have such good control?" Elena wonders, "why is it just Stefan?"

Gemma aimlessly shakes her head, not knowing how to answer the human's question. How did she have good control? Is it a mind thing? Is it the habits of her past creeping back up and causing her to slack up on eating? Was Stefan just graced with the ripper gene? "It's hard to answer that," she says truthfully. "You don't really know, you just either do... or you don't."

"This is all my fault," the Gilbert mourns. "I'm the one who fed him the blood in the first place."

"You were trying to help him, Elena. You can't blame yourself for that."

Gemma straightens up whenever the door creaks open, Stefan stepping through the threshold with a weary expression gracing his features. The female Salvatore's aware that he heard pieces of their conversation and from the way he's looking at her, she knows that he's upset.

"What's going on in here?"

Damon shuffles forward, "I was filling in Elena on your extracurricular activities."

Stefan laughs dryly, "and why's Gemma here? For moral support?"

"She's here because I asked her to be," Elena tells her boyfriend, her eyebrows furrowed together. "I know about the blood too, Stefan."

Damon grabs Gemma's hand and tugs her toward the door. "We'll be downstairs drinking and gossiping." He pulls her into the hallway and closes the door after them, basically dragging Gemma's near lifeless form down the stairs. "Way to be obvious, Wednesday."

"What?" She mumbles, her arm falling limp in his hold.

"The way you looked at her when we first walked in," Damon says in an obvious tone. "You're not playing it very subtle."

"Playing what?"

Damon finally gets them to the bar and doesn't waste time in grabbing two free glasses of Bourbon, giving one of them to Gemma with an expectant look. The girl takes a large gulp and then Damon speaks, "that you're in love with her."

Gemma chokes, her eyes blowing wide with panic. In a fit of not being able to breathe, she grabs Damon's cup and spits the mouthful of Bourbon out, gasping in a fresh breath of air. Her brother glares at her before taking her cup and beginning to drink from it. "I'm not," she emphasizes. "I just thought about the fact that she'd be pretty to photograph."

"You're doing photography again?" He raises an eyebrow, impressed. "I'm gonna have to start paying Willow more."

"You pay her?"

"Of course I do," he blinks. "She's helping you, that deserves a little reward, don't you think? Not everyone can tolerate what you're putting off."

"You're a dick."

"So are you."

Gemma moves past her brother and puts the contaminated glass of Bourbon down, folding her arms across her chest when the music begins playing. Damon begins to idle forward to watch the first girl walk down the stairs and Gemma follows, her eyes curious. She's never actually been to one of these things, so she's not sure how it works. Looks high maintenance to her, though. "You think Stefan's good enough to escort Elena?"

"We'll see," he mutters.

"Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore," Mayor Lockwood announces.

"Boy, isn't that a mouthful," Gemma comments.

Damon nudges her in the ribs with a small grin, shaking his head. Gemma half ass claps for the couple as she watches them stride onto the makeshift dance floor for the rest of the competitors.

"Miss Caroline Forbes and her escort, Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton."

Gemma claps for the blonde girl, giving her an encouraging nod whenever they meet eyes. Caroline grins, excited and keeps walking, following her escort.

"You're in a good mood," Damon voices.

"I've had a few glasses of wine," she confesses. "And other things."

He scoffs out a laugh, "of course you did."

"Miss Elena Gilbert and her escort, Mister Stefan Salvatore."

Gemma looks up the stairs to see Elena gracefully bounding down them, her expression nervous.

"Stefan's not here," Damon hisses.

"What?"

"He's not at the bottom of the stairs."

"What..." Gemma's eyes widen, "what are we supposed to do about that?" The vampire can tell the exact moment Elena realizes too. The human stops half way down the stairs with a deep frown, her eyes flashing. "Oh, hell."

"Wh—?" Damon tries to grab her arm when she moves forward, but it's too late.

Curse Gemma and her soft heart when she gets like this. It kills her to be this vulnerable, but she can't let Stefan embarrass Elena and ruin what Miranda wanted for her daughter. She anxiously approaches the bottom of the stairs, quickening her pace whenever she sees Elena begin to walk again.

Gemma meets Elena's eyes and offers her a soft smile and her arm, almost jolting at the Gilbert's touch.

"Where is Stefan?" Elena whispers, letting Gemma lead her onto the dance floor.

"I don't know," Gemma murmurs, staring forward. "You'll have to deal with me for a few minutes, Miss Gilbert. That okay?"

Elena grins, "do you even know how to do this dance?"

Gemma makes a sound of panic, "no."

"Just follow my lead."

They make it to the dance floor and part ways, standing directly across from each other. Gemma would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous, but by the look on Elena's face; she's almost convinced there's nothing to worry about. The Gilbert looks carefree as she curtsey's— oh. Gemma bows to Elena, shaking her head in embarrassment when the human girl laughs.

Gemma moves forward when Elena does, meeting the girl halfway as they begin to dance. The female Salvatore thinks she's doing an okay job at following Elena's lead, but the girl's occasional giggles tell her otherwise.

"Are you having fun?" Elena wonders, her voice small so the other contestants wouldn't hear her.

"So much fun."

Gemma lifts both her hands when Elena does, spinning in a slow circle like the rest of the competitors. Their fingertips brush and Elena bites back a laugh, whispering a quiet, "flirt with the eyes, Gemma" before going back to her side. There's a short pause of them gazing at each other before they move forward again, meeting in an actual embrace this time. Gemma clasps one of her hands with Elena and braces the other against the human's waist, the silk of Elena's dress dragging across her skin. The Gilbert's free hand rests on her shoulder, goosebumps threatening to break out whenever her fingers make contact.

"You're doing good," Elena compliments through a soft murmur.

Gemma smirks, amused. "You're lying."

They dance around the floor for a few moments before parting ways again, standing on opposite ends of the dance floor as the music comes to a stop. Their eyes meet again and Gemma smiles softly, watching Elena mirror her action.

••

Gemma sits outside on the stone wall of the Boarding House, her back resting against one of the pillars. She gazes up at the night sky, her eyes falling heavy due to the earlier events. She and Damon had finally tracked Stefan down but what they found was not what they wanted to see. Their baby brother has officially went off the deep end, and there's only so much they can do to try and fix him. Elena wants to help, but—

"Gemma?"

Speak of the devil.

The Salvatore looks over her shoulder at the human girl, giving her a questioning look. "Yes, peach?"

"Why are you sitting out here all alone?"

"Just thinking."

"About Stefan?"

Gemma nods, "yeah, but it's nothing you need to worry about. Just sisterly concern."

Elena moves to sit beside her, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "If it's bothering you, I need to worry about it."

Gemma smiles, amused.

"You're my friend, Gemma. I do worry about you."

"That's very flattering," the vampire murmurs.

"Will you... you'll be here tonight whenever I do it, right?"

Gemma assumes the human's referring to injecting Stefan with vervain and throwing his ass in the cellar so she nods, giving the Gilbert her full attention. A thick wave of guilt washes over Gemma, the Salvatore frowning deeply at the troubled look in Elena's eyes. She wishes she could go back and beg Stefan to leave Elena alone, to not be selfish and burden the girl with the knowledge of their abilities. The Salvatore vaguely wonders what it would've been like to meet Elena instead of Katherine.

"Yeah, I'll be here."

Elena nods, her shoulders slumping in relief. "This is... a lot."

"I know," Gemma murmurs. "I know. I'm sorry, peach. You shouldn't have to deal with any of this, with us. It was selfish of Stefan, and now it's selfish of all of us to keep you in our world like this."

"Why would you say that?" Elena furrows her eyebrows. "Don't be sorry."

"Elena, you're so burdened with what you know now. We can't ever take back what we will inevitably take from you by forcing you to be apart of this."

"You're not forcing me to be apart of anything," Elena says, her voice taking on a sharp edge to it. "I had a choice to walk away and I still do, but I'm not. I care about Stefan and I care about you, Gemma. I can't just— I can't just leave that. I couldn't if I tried."

Gemma glances at her, her eyes darting down to the necklace resting against Elena's chest.

"Don't you dare," Elena gapes. "How could you even think of that?"

"I wasn't," the Salvatore defends herself. "I was just looking!"

"You're a liar," Elena accuses. "I can't believe you."

"Can't you?" Gemma scoffs, "can you look at it from my perspective for just a second? You're good, Elena. You're pure and selfless and innocent, and too damn good for a family like ours. Why would you ever want to be apart of a world like this?"

"Because I'm not just existing anymore," Elena confesses. "I feel like I'm alive, Gemma."

"Contrary to popular belief, what doesn't kill you doesn't make you stronger, Elena."

Elena pauses for a long second, running hand through her hair. Gemma can feel the Gilbert's stare on the side of her face but she ignores it, unwilling to see the raw emotion the human holds.

"Do you think you'd feel different if I met you when you were human?"

Gemma does look at her at this. "I think..." She trails off, searching Elena's face. "I think I'd be more brave."

"Brave?" Elena repeats, confused. "You already are, Gemma."

The vampire smiles, amused. "Not quite, peach. Not quite." She stands from the stone wall and shoves her hands into her pockets, nodding toward the front door. "Ready to get this over with, Miss Gilbert?"

Elena inhales softly, shrugging her shoulders. "If you are, Miss Salvatore."

Gemma offers her hand to the girl, a wide grin tugging at her lips when Elena takes it with no hesitation.

••

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happy pride you guys!!! all the love in the world goes out to you wonderful flowers 🤎🤎