23|FOUNDERS DAY

part one

Gemma trails alongside Damon through the crowd of people, water bottle gripped tightly in her hand. She readjusts her grip and sighs heavily, shrugging her shoulders as an uncomfortable feeling washes over her. Crowds weren't good, weren't good at all. People made her skin itch. Not because of the bloodlust, or because of a lack of control—Stefan— it was because humanity sucks. When she's surrounded by people, it's like all of their emotions and blubbering rubs off on her and she couldn't stand it.

"Have you heard from Willow?" Damon questions, his arm brushing against Gemma's. He looks down at her with an intense stare, his eyes searching her face before he looks straight ahead again.

"Uh, yeah, we have a session scheduled for tomorrow." She opens the water bottle and takes a large gulp, biting back the grimace at the harsh sting. Her eyes water and she sniffles, ducking her head whenever Damon looks at her again. "She didn't sound too excited."

"Well, number one, you've put her through hell. Number two, it's not hard to tell that it's not water you're drinking."

Gemma glances up at him, shrugging. "Is it so evil of me to drown my sorrows for one day?"

"Willow said—"

"Willow says a lot of things."

Damon groans, "don't tell me your little argument with Stefan did this."

"Of course not," Gemma scoffs out a laugh. "But the place I've been forced to stoop to in order to bother him now, definitely did."

Damon raises his eyebrows, "you're deliberately going to antagonize our brother?" His lips twist up into a smirk. "Sounds a little too much like me, little sister."

"If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck—"

"I don't like ducks," Damon cuts her off, suddenly stoic.

Gemma scowls when someone brushes last her, their shoulder bumping into hers. She shuffles closer to Damon and shakes her head, her eyebrows furrowing. "What's your problem with ducks?"

He purses his lips, "they just— they're odd."

Gemma laughs loudly, "how?"

He turns to her, his eyes dark and his voice coming out in a hushed whisper. "Gemma, ducks in the UK have a different accent than other ducks. Why— why?"

Gemma stops in her tracks, her lips parting. "Are you— are you high? What's wrong with you? How do you even know that?"

Damon grits his teeth, "your therapist. She won't stop texting me random facts about them."

The female Salvatore widens her eyes, "you hate ducks because of her?"

"She won't stop, Gemma, it's so—"

"Look at you," Gemma cuts Damon off when Stefan idles up to them, clad in an outfit straight from the 1800's. "Maybe history really is repeating itself, hm?"

"What are you two doing here?" Stefan demands to know.

Gemma rolls her eyes, taking another sip of her water.

"Why wouldn't we be here?" Damon counters. "Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, Isobel is gone and it's Founder's Day! I'm here to eat cotton candy and Gemma's here to steal your girl."

Gemma grins, "where is she, anyway? I'm dying to see her in her pretty little—"

"Don't start with me," Stefan snaps viscously.

"You started it with your whole little insecure speech," she informs him. "I was fine being the bare minimum of friends with your girl until you mentioned anything."

"As long as you heard what I had to say," he says.

Gemma makes a face, "Can you repeat it, just a little less possessive caveman this time? I might get the message if you sounded a little less like our father."

"If that's the only thing that gets through to you—"

"Do you have no sense of humor?" Damon interrupts him, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Gemma swallows the bitter lump in her throat, she and Stefan both unrelenting to back down.

"Actually, I've no sense of Damon and Gemma humor. You go too far with it." Stefan voices.

"Damon and Gemma humor," the raven haired vampire chuckles. "I like it. Hey look, I get it, man. Gemma's the better, less hotter version of me. She's obviously the superior choice for Elena and you're scared. Now that Gemma's made it known she's interested in your girl, you're worried. But you don't have to be, because Elena is not Katherine."

Gemma raises her water bottle, "cheers to that. Thank God."

"You're right, she's not," Stefan agrees.

Gemma turns to face away from her brothers and she stills, her grip on the bottle becoming tight. Elena stands a few feet away from them, clad in her time period dress and looking up at them with a sly smile as the ringlets in her hair frame her face. The female Salvatore feels weak in the knees for a second, her eyes meeting the Gilbert's. "I can't..." she trails off, her lips parting. Elena was a carbon copy of Katherine and there was no denying it. "You look—"

"Great," Damon blurts out, grabbing Gemma's arm and hauling her closer to him. He tightens his grip to one of slight discomfort and glances between Elena and the female Salvatore. "You look great, Elena. Now if you'll excuse us, Gemma needs some water."

"But she has—"

"Water!"

•••

It's only an hour later that Damon finally has Gemma sober enough to get the point across. They stand on the sidelines with the rest of the crowd, awaiting the floats while he quietly scolds her.

"When you look at her like that, it's hard to play along with your I don't love her, I despise her half the time charade, you know that, right?"

"It's not a charade," Gemma mutters, rubbing at her temples. She should've stopped drinking the night before, after her conversation with Stefan, but she didn't. She carried the alcohol all the way into daybreak, only switching to Vodka so it wouldn't be obvious to the townspeople. "I really do despise her sometimes."

"No, you don't," he argues. "You despise the way she makes you feel."

"What do you know?" Gemma grumbles.

"I know that you nearly passed out when you saw her an hour ago."

"It was Kather—!" Gemma's words turn into a garbled mess when Damon moved forward to press his hand over her mouth. He gives her a look before lightly tapping her on the cheek, his eyes disapproving. "It was Katherine," she hisses. "That's who I saw, not Elena."

"So you're still pining for Katherine, then? Good to know."

"You're one to talk," Gemma bites back. "You were ready to kill all of us to get her back less than three weeks ago."

"I'm a changed man," he argues.

"Yeah, yeah, go find a duck."

He side eyes her before falling silent, the marching band starting to play and make noise over the voices of the surrounding people.

"Let's give a big hand to the Mystic Falls high school Marching Band!" Carol Lockwood commentates.

Everyone applauds and erupts into shrill screams, exciting for the upcoming floats. Gemma winces in irritation, noting all of the teenager hormones practically seeping into her pores.

"And for a local history, Mr. Saltzman's students have recreated Virginia's Battle of Willow Creek!"

The float comes into view and Jeremy and Tyler stand upon it, wearing uniforms and pretending to shoot at each other. Gemma casts a short look to Damon before aiming her stare forward.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls Court and their handsome escorts!"

The Miss Mystic Falls float arrives and Damon nudges Gemma, a smirk playing at his lips as Elena and the rest of the girls all wave to the crowd. "Does it bother you that he's taking your place up there?"

"No," Gemma sniffs. "If he wants the glory, he can have it. Don't want people getting the wrong impression, do we?"

"Which is—?"

"That I like her, or want anything to do with her in general." She confesses. "Stefan pushed me into being her friend and it took hold from there, but the notion that she and I will ever be anything more than friends is ridiculous. She's a child. I'm over a century old, Damon."

"Didn't stop Stefan," he mumbles.

Gemma looks at him, "didn't stop you either, remember?"

He smiles dryly, looking past her for a moment before his eyes lock onto something. A small smile graces his lips and he grabs ahold of Gemma's arm, dragging her with him whenever he goes to walk forward. "Where are we— no." Gemma protests, "do not bother Bonnie, she's had enough of your—"

"What do you want?" The witch huffs, seeing him coming into view.

"Just watching the parade," he says innocently.

Bonnie flashes Gemma a small smile before turning to walk away, her shoulders tensing when Damon only follows her.

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"Away from you."

"I wanna say something to you."

"Just leave me alone!"

"Damon," Gemma warns.

Bonnie finally spins to face him, her arms crossed and eyes narrowed; but not totally unwilling to listen.

"Thank you," he emphasizes. "The device that Emily spelled could've killed me. I don't take what you did lightly... so thank you."

"I did it for Elena," she tells him.

"I know that, but I'm still very grateful; and I owe you." He looks at her for a long second. "Enjoy the parade."

•••

Gemma sits— alone, for once, in a booth at The Grill, a glass of Whiskey placed in front of her. She wasn't drowning her sorrows, but she certainly wasn't swimming in them either. Drama with her brother and Elena was the last thing she—

"Gem?"

Gemma has half a mind to let out a loud, annoyed groan but she only knows it'd hurt the humans feelings, so she keeps quiet. She lifts her eyes from the glass and schools her face into a smile. "Yes, Elena? Can I help you?" She pauses before adding, "I'm glad you're out of those clothes. Didn't suit you too well."

"Is that an insult?" Elena shuffles closer.

Gemma gives her a look, "of course not. You just... you shouldn't look anything like her; and you did for a second. That's all."

Elena smiles, amused. "I look exactly like her Gemma, clothes or not."

Gemma gazes at her, "no. You really don't."

"Anyway, that's not what I came here for. I know Stefan is worried about our... friendship."

"Did he mention something to you too?"

"No," Elena furrows her eyebrows. "Did he mention something to you?"

The female Salvatore grins, "no. Not at all."

"I think, maybe, we should stop. With— with just acting so close, you know?" Elena shifts in her feet, avoiding Gemma's eyes. "The nicknames and the way— the way you just stare at me."

Gemma blinks, "I have no idea what you mean."

"You're staring at me like that right now."

Gemma laughs, her eyes wide. "I'm just looking at you! I look at everyone like this! Do you want me to close my eyes?"

"Gemma, please don't make me regret being your friend, all right?"

Gemma shakes her head, cradling her face between her palms. "Sure thing, Elena."

"Don't— don't do that, Gemma. Don't act like this doesn't bother you."

Gemma turns to face the girl, her expression one of disbelief. "What do you want from me? Do you want me to turn off my emotions and not care? Do you want me to act like I don't know who you are? Or do you want me to acknowledge the fact that my brother sees Katherine in you and that's why he doesn't want us to get closer? News flash Elena, it's not me that's falling for a Katherine Pierce look alike. It's him!"

Elena winces at her words, her brown eyes watering as she folds her arms across her chest. "He doesn't see Katherine in me. That's why he's setting boundaries."

"There's your problem, Elena," Gemma points out. "These are his boundaries, not yours." She grabs her glass of Whiskey and slides out of the booth, giving Elena a tight smile before she brushes past her.

"Gemma, please—"

"What do you want from me?" The vampire questions, her voice stained. "What exactly is it that you want me to do?"

"I—I want to be your friend," Elena admits. "But so many wires get crossed and..."

Gemma turns to the girl, her face void of emotion. Her grip on the glass of Whiskey tightens and she raises her eyebrows, shrugging. "What wires?"

Elena pauses, "Gemma—"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the female Salvatore says. "You're my brother's girlfriend, that's it. That's all you'll ever be."

Elena frowns, "you're lashing out because you're hurt—"

"This isn't me lashing out, Elena. This is me being honest with you." Gemma counters, "that's what you've wanted all along, right? Well, the truth hurts. Suck it up." She puts the glass of Whiskey on nearby table before stalking out of The Grill with her hands shoved in her pockets.

••

not edited. 'tis only part 1, so sorry for the long long wait. so much has happened and i'd talk about it if it were meaningful to any of you, but alas 🥰 here's the new chapter of gem & elena.