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a/n: Charlotte's dress for the chapter is above!

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ━═☆

27th of January used to be Charlotte's favourite day of the year, why, you may ask. Well, it must be no surprise that one's favourite day of the year is their birthday, the day they get another year older. Well, not anymore.

162 years old, wow.

The brunette vampire loved baking, she could bake to save her life, like a lot of baking. It was the best thing about her birthday, she and her sisters used to start the day with baking cupcakes, then decorating the house, bringing the rest of their friends over, and finally finishing the day with opening gifts with all of her family members.

That was why she started her day with baking in the Salvatore Boarding House's kitchen, she skimmed through the ingredients and instructions, just to refresh her memory before pulling out a mixer, she intended to do dozens of cupcakes, a few for herself and the rest for whomever she sees on the way out.

Charlotte pulled out a bowl and cracked the eggs into it, merely stopping when she heard someone walking into the kitchen, "Morn-," She paused, cracking another egg, "-ing."

"What are you making?" Elena asked, leaning against the kitchen's island.

"Cupcakes."

"All I see you do these days is cooking, breakfast, lunch, now dessert," Elena chuckled, claiming as she popped one of the cherries, for the topping, in her mouth.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "It relieves stress and I love food."

"Why would you be stressed?"

The Bernard girl turned on the mixer before looking at Elena, "Isn't it obvious? My best friend was never dead, I grieved her for no reason and her fiance is ready to sacrifice you. Today is not something to be celebrated."

Elena pinched her lips, "Well...she doesn't hate you so that's a given."

"Katherine's free, another given. Meaning I won't have to blame myself that she is stuck in a tomb starving because of me," Charlotte chimed in, turning off the mixer before pulling out a cupcake pan, "Finally."

"We need to talk, you know?"

"Don't talk about what I think you want to talk about."

Charlotte shook her head, taking off her apron, "I am not about to let you be sacrificed."

"Elijah promised to keep me and everyone else safe as long as we play by his rules. You were there," Elena reminded her, rolling her brown doe eyes in frustration.

The vampire shook her head, claiming, "It's because I was there, I know that he said nothing about you and someone like him means every single word—"

Elena raised a finger to her mouth, "Shh, Stefan might hear you," She mouthed.

"He has to know sooner or later, you can't just—"

The Gilbert interjected, practically begging her friend, "Charlotte, please!"

"You can't ask me to do that to him," Charlotte whispered back, shaking her head vigorously.

Elena sighed, crossing her arms, "As one of my closest friends—"

"Don't pull out that card!"

The Gilbert continued pulling out her cutest convincing look, "you should cover for me and pretend that everything is completely fine."

"Elena, I don't do lying. I can't, it's not in my nature!"

"Technically...he would never ask so it's not really lying?" Her friend raised a persuasive eyebrow, "C'mon, Char, please."

"And what if he does ask, huh?" Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest, questioning.

Elena shrugged her shoulders, "Then tell him that everything I said is true?" Charlotte stared her down, forcing the human to roll her eyes, biting the inside of her cheeks, "Just this once."

"I am not okay with any of this."

"If it was our lives on the line, wouldn't you do the same thing?"

"Yes, but it's different—"

Elena cut her off, shaking her head, "No, it isn't. That's all I need to hear," She watched Charlotte sucking in a deep breath before a smile lit up her face, adding, "And try to join him on that trip to find Isobel...I don't want him doing anything that could remotely jeopardize our deal with Elijah."

"Today?"

"Yeah, today. Are you busy?"

Charlotte knitted her eyebrows, bending down to check on the cupcakes in the oven as she remembered what the date of the day represented, she shrugged her shoulders, "Nope, nothing important."

✵ ✵ ✵

The newest werewolf in town, Jules, a friend of Mason's dug around too much and Damon spoke back, marking himself but instead of being bit by her, Rose was. She was bit by a werewolf, giving her a fatal to a vampire, werewolf bite. Charlotte dawned the information, sitting down on a booth in the Mystic Grill with Cassie in front of her, the younger Bernard drinking a chocolate milkshake.

"You came late last night?" She noted, taking another sip from her cold drink.

Charlotte smiled, nodding, "Yeah, I ran into an old friend and we talked a lot."

"Is that friend nice?"

"She is, you will love her, really," The brunette vampire nodded happily, only frowning when she noticed Cassie's eyes on something behind her, "What is it— oh, Paulina! Hi..."

"Paulina?" Cassie raised her eyebrows, stating, "It's a mouthful."

"I know right," Paulina shrugged her jacket off, sliding in the booth next to Charlotte as she smiled towards the youngest Bernard, "Most of my friends call me Lina."

"So we are friends now, Lina?" Cassie asked, sipping on her chocolate milkshake.

Paulina raised her index finger, cutting in, "Now, now, not before I know your name, little one."

"I am Cassandra."

Paulina smirked, repeating, "It's a mouthful."

"Everyone calls me Cassie."

The Gilbert extended her hand out, shaking Cassie's hand before she turned to Charlotte, "Hello...so I thought you would be here with the cute young lady."

"Actually, I was babysitting," Charlotte rose to her feet, picking up her jacket as she saw Stefan make his way out the door, "And now Oliver is— Oliver!"

The blond boy sprinted up to their table, raising his eyebrows, "Something wrong?"

"Just keep an eye on her, please?" Charlotte smiled persuasively, leaving the check for Cassie's milkshake on the table.

"Where is Serena?"

"School project," She answered, smiling thankfully at Oliver before quite literally running out the door, "Stefan!" He didn't respond before she opened his car door and got inside.

"What are you doing?"

She furrowed her eyebrows, clueless to his question, "What does it look like? I am coming with you."

He blinked back before shaking his head, "Why would you?"

Charlotte crossed her arms, attempting to say anything apart from; oh, Elena wanted me to stalk you so you don't ruin her plan of killing herself in a creepy scary sacrifice. Nah, that was too casual.

"I am bored," She claimed, pulling the zip of her bag open, "I have cupcakes, also known as, I am bribing you, you are cornered. I am coming."

Stefan nodded, starting as the brunette vampire smiled victoriously, taking a bite from her cupcake.

✵ ✵ ✵

The road trip was awfully quiet. Stefan wouldn't open a conversation and Charlotte had no idea what to say before she slumped her shoulders back, blurting out, "Elena asked me if I still have feelings for you."

She noted the change of expressions on his face before she faked a laugh, shaking her head, "I mean how stupid is that question, right?"

"You really think it is?"

"I mean I would be an idiot if I cared about someone who didn't even grieve me or felt an ounce of pain when they lost me...I could be selfless but this is too much, even for me," Charlotte supported her latest statement, crossing her arms.

"You think I never grieved you?" Stefan's eyes darted from the road for a few seconds, turning to face her, "When I came back as a vampire and remembered what I had done to you, what Katherine made me do to you, it haunted me."

He shook his head, wishing he could shake off the memories as well, "Charlotte, you were my first friend and love, and knowing that I was one of the reasons you weren't there anymore or that I am the person who broke your heart....it broke me. I went mad, I couldn't control my bloodlust then I turned it off."

"But shutting off your humanity is a wall, it's nothing permanent," Stefan sighed, fixating his hand on the wheel, "It stops the pain for a while, never lasts though," He paused, rubbing the back of his neck, "The guilt I have for what happened to you didn't leave me...I still carry it to this very day and it's the only reason I can't look at you without blaming myself that your life is this way because of me, because I couldn't protect you."

"There was nothing you could—"

He pulled over on the side of the road as Charlotte pursed her lips in a straight line, choosing to stay quiet now as Stefan turned to face her, "I could have. I could have fought for you and I could have tried harder, Charlotte."

She avoided his gaze, stating, "You should start the car. Isobel won't be very helpful if we turn up late."

"You are not even going to look at me."

Charlotte scoffed, shaking her head, "You are late, this heart-to-heart moment is something you should have done the day I came back...not wait months for it!"

"You wouldn't let me talk to you," He retorted.

"Oh, I am sorry was I supposed to come up to you and ask you if you were ready to apologize and explain your point?" She spoke back, huffing out, "You don't get it, Stefan. You didn't just break my heart and walk away, you keep doing it now and it hurts and I don't know what to do about it!"

"Well, me neither!"

Charlotte frowned, noticing something different in his eyes before she shook her head and turned to look out the window, "Start the car."

✵ ✵ ✵

Serena slung her bag on her shoulder, holding Cassie's hand in hers, "So, what did you think about Charlotte's friend?"

Cassie's eyes lit up as she started, "She is really fun and nice! She was playing with me all of those games on her phone until she saw Stefan's brother and had to leave. Can Charlotte let her come over, please?"

"Sure, we will ask her sometime," Serena nodded, happy to know someone other than her and Charlotte managed to paint a smile on her little sister's face, "Quicken your pace, or we will have a cold dinner at Caroline's."

"No, aunt Liz will wait for us before turning off the stove," Cassie replied, shaking her head before Serena came to a halt, a few meters from the Forbes Residence, spotting Caroline and Tyler at the door, "Why did we stop?"

Luckily, Cassie wasn't tall enough to see past the bushes as Serena furrowed her eyebrows watching Tyler kiss Caroline, "Wow...friends, huh..."

"What's going on?"

Serena sighed, turning to her sister, "Why don't we go home? I will order us Chinese food and watch a cartoon movie with you, yeah?"

Cassie frowned, the smile dropping off her face, "But I thought we will have dinner with Aunt Liz and Care."

The older of the two scratched the back of her head, stating, "Well, Liz is not home and Caroline's car is not here."

"But—"

"Cassie! Let's just go, okay?!"

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte and Stefan didn't find Isobel like they thought they would, instead they were met with John Gilbert. Considering that the last time Charlotte saw him, he had her chained up as the Gilbert invention worked, she rathered not to stay in the same car as him.

The brunette took the bus back to Mystic Falls and walked the distance from the bus station to the Salvatore Boarding House. Stefan must have been lying, right? It's impossible that there's a small part of him that feels something for me, not anymore.

She ran a hand over her face, walking onto the foyer. She merely turned around, hearing a car pull over, a red vintage car. Charlotte sighed, walking into the house with a frown etched onto her face. This was officially the worst birthday to ever pass.

"Charlotte, wait," He called after her and she paused, turning to face him with her hands shoved into her jeans jacket, "I forgot to give you something."

Charlotte raised a confused eyebrow as he held a wrapped up purple box that looked as if it contained something quite valuable. She shrugged her shoulders, "For what?"

"Well, it's your birthday," Stefan reminded her, a hint of a smile dancing on his lips as she took the box from his hand, "Happy one hundred and sixty-two years?"

"Okay, now, shut up."

✵ ✵ ✵