𝟑𝟓

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

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 ━═☆

Charlotte sighed, picking on another nail as she stared at the gift box on her bed from Paulina. Some part of her was excited to know what lied inside but another part wanted to dumb it in the basket can and never think of it again.

She voted for none of the above and shook her head at herself, "C'mon, Char...it's just a box."

She walked over to her bed, pulling the diary Elena gave to her yesterday from her nightstand drawer. Charlotte grabbed a pen from her pencil case and started.

Dear Paulina,

I don't hate you. I will never be able to. I guess when you spend so much time loving someone...losing them becomes like losing a part of yourself and I will never be ready for that.

For years, my morals kept me going. My beliefs that everyone deserves a second chance, deserves to be heard, no matter how far we go. We aren't angels and we are allowed to make mistakes. None of us is God to decide which mistake is forgivable and which is not.

I will always forgive you, Paulina. You are my best friend and I will stand by you through everything but sometimes, I just need you to hear my side of the story. I have changed. I need you to understand that I am not that naive girl that you always stood up for.

I am a different new Charlotte and I like this version of me. That version makes mistakes, tries hard, and that version isn't forced to live by anyone's perspectives.

Charlotte let out a long sigh, put her pencil down, closed her diary before rising to her feet, and walking out of the room. She descended downstairs, running a hand through her hair as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

The brunette raised an eyebrow as she was met with Andie Star, "Hello...aren't you the News lady?"

She put her jacket on before offering Charlotte her hand to shake, "Andie Star, yes. Nice to meet you," Charlotte shook her hand back before the news lady asked, "And you are...Damon's sister?"

Charlotte was about to say no, remembering that she resided in his and Stefan's house, that needed an explanation. She didn't struggle long with an answer as her eyes landed on the bandage over Andie's neck, "Oh...I am just a guest."

"Nonsense," Damon's sing-song tone interrupted as he walked into the room, "This is Charlotte Bernard. I like to call her a close friend of mine."

"We both have very different definitions to a close friend," Charlotte snarked, crossing her arms over her chest.

He rolled his eyes, knowing she referred to their conversation a day ago where he had indirectly doubted her loyalties and, maybe or maybe not, asked her to use an old friend of hers for his and Stefan's benefit in the protect Elena plan.

She sighed, forcing a smile onto her face as she turned to Andie, "It was very nice meeting you but I have to go."

"Oh yeah, of course. I am late, too—"

Damon cut her off, asking Charlotte, "Where to?"

"The Grill, I am going to see the girls, it's important."

She finished, making her way to the door as Damon called after, "Don't be late, you have got a vampire approved curfew!"

"Okay, Dad," Charlotte shot back sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

✵ ✵ ✵

"Damn it," Serena cursed under her breath, sitting down on a chair, "My back still hurts from sleeping on the floor. You are a real bitch, Bonnie."

"I didn't do anything to you," The witch claimed, a small smile dancing on her lips.

The human Bernard raised an eyebrow, "For real? You pushed me off the bed like seven times last night."

"I did not."

"You so did, liar."

Charlotte chuckled, cutting, "Why don't you two just admit that you four can't fit into Caroline's bed anymore?" She suggested, crossing her arms as Serena nudged Bonnie, biting onto her bottom lip.

"She started it."

Caroline rolled her eyes, turning to Bonnie, "Okay. So tell me about this big, witchy plan you've been cooking up."

"We still don't know the extent of what Elijah's up to," Bonnie started, crossing her arms over the table.

"We don't?" Serena raised her eyebrows.

Caroline nodded, confirming, "No, we don't."

The brunette Bennett continued, shrugging her shoulders, "So, I'm gonna ask Luka to tell me what he knows."

Charlotte pursed her lips in a straight line before shaking her head, "You do realize he won't tell you anything, right?"

"I didn't say he was gonna have a choice."

"Damn, Bonnie is being a badass witch now," Serena clapped her hands enthusiastically before nudging her friend, "I am impressed, aren't you, too, Care?"

"Care?" Serena repeated as Caroline looked past her and Bonnie. She turned around, finding Matt. The blonde vampire gave him a small wave and a smile but his face remained stony and he walked away without any acknowledgment towards the small group.

"What's going on...?" Charlotte raised her eyebrows, asking.

"Uh, I don't know. I thought that we were...I don't know."

✵ ✵ ✵

"And five multiply five equals?" Charlotte raised her eyebrows, asking. She was sitting at the same table in the Mystic Grill, helping Cassie with her Maths homework and a few other subjects.

"Five counted five times, right?"

"Exactly," The brunette vampire smiled encouragingly, "Which equals?"

Cassie squeezed her eyes shut, whispering number five's timetable under her breath, "Five, ten, fifteen, twenty...Twenty-five. It's twenty-five!"

"Correct!" Charlotte clapped her hands, praising her niece as Cassie wrote down the answer.

Serena came by, waiting their table with two milkshakes, commenting, "I will never understand how any of you find it in yourselves to actually like Maths."

"It's just a game. Easiest subject."

"Sure, yeah," Serena rolled her eyes before claiming, "It's the chemistry for me."

"What's Chemistry?" Cassie asked curiously.

"Sexual connection between a male or female, in some other cases female and female or male and—"

Charlotte interrupted Serena, coughing, "It's a part of science. When you grow up, we divide science into three different roots."

"But Seerie just said..."

"Seerie was just going back to her work," Charlotte stated, turning to Serena with a heated glare, "Weren't you?"

Serena huffed out, raising her hands in surrender, "Alright alright. I got the sign I am not wanted here," She chuckled, turning back to her work.

She could see Caroline and Matt talking with an eye as she wrote down a married couple's orders, "Coming right up," Serena nodded, smiling.

Tyler approached Caroline but she started to walk away, accidentally knocking shoulders with him, causing her bag to fall to the floor, spilling out its contents. Caroline kneeled down to retrieve her bag and things, while Tyler kneeled down to help.

"Just stop it, Tyler, okay? You're just...you're just making it worse."

Tyler shook his head, attempting to apologize, "Please, Caroline. I'm sorry about what happened, okay, but there's so much we need to talk about."

The blonde vampire grabbed her bag and got up from the floor, "I said just leave me alone." She stormed out of the Grill.

Serena watched the whole scene before walking over to Tyler, "You should take a hint because the next time you try to approach her. I am going to kick your ass. Like I used to do throughout middle school, yeah?"

"I hope I got my point across...dickhead."

✵ ✵ ✵

Bonnie was fooling Luka, long enough to do the spell she had planned. Caroline and Charlotte with Cassie sleeping in her arms were watching at the other end of the Grill. Jeremy walked into the Grill and over to them, questioning, "Hey. How's it going?"

"What are you doing here?" Charlotte looked up, raising her eyebrows as she adjusted Cassie's head to be leaning on her chest.

Jeremy shrugged, answering, "Bonnie called. I wanted to help," He sighed, repeating, "How's it going?"

The three of them looked over at Luka and Bonnie, "She's selling it and he's buying it. She's giving him the sex smile."

Charlotte frowned as Jeremy rolled his eyes, "All right, Caroline. We get it."

The brunette vampire turned to her blonde friend, mouthing, "What the hell?"

Caroline looked at Jeremy, noting his jealousy, and turned to Charlotte with a knowing smirk, "I will explain later."

Luka started to move to set up a game for him and Bonnie but suddenly, he stumbled. He placed his hands on the pool table to maintain his balance, "What's happening to me?"

She moved closer to Luka, whispering, "You'll be okay."

He began to fall over and Bonnie grabbed his shoulders, trying to keep him upright. Jeremy and Caroline quickly walked over to help. Charlotte pulled her bag and Cassie's school bag, adjusting the child on her shoulders to walk with her sleeping soundly.

"Why don't we go over here?" Bonnie started to lead Luka around the pool table but Jeremy approached them first.

"I got him. I got him," She moved out of the way and Jeremy placed Luka's arm around his shoulder and dragged him away from the eyes of the bar patrons, "What kind of witch roofie was that?"

"Strong one," Bonnie smiled slightly, satisfied with her witchy abilities.

Caroline followed the two before Charlotte checked if anyone saw them and followed the group out of the Grill's back exit.

✵ ✵ ✵

They were now at Caroline's house. Charlotte laid Cassie in Caroline's bed before walking back outside to sit on the couch as Bonnie, Jeremy, and Caroline had already prepared everything.

"We only have, like, an hour or two before my mom gets home, and these are all I could find," Caroline stated and the doorbell rang.

Everyone started to panic as Charlotte rose to her feet, "Relax, it's just Serena. I told her to come over after her shift."

Charlotte walked out of the living room, swinging the door open to let Serena in. The brunette human stormed inside, rambling, "Did I miss anything? I wanted to be here earlier but Bob wanted me to cover for Oliver and I told him it's none of my business then he threatened to fire me and I was like...," She paused, letting out a deep breath, "I just shrugged my shoulders and left."

"I can't imagine how hard it would have been to hold back from punching him," Caroline chuckled, shaking her head.

"Don't remind me," Serena huffed out before she crossed her arms, "That's like the only moment in my life where I showed self-restraint and I have never been more proud."

Charlotte smiled, squeezing her niece's shoulder in reassurance before Serena spoke up, "How does this work?"

"Um, I'll put him in a trance and ask him questions," Bonnie shrugged, attempting to find a simple meaning to what she was doing, "It's like hypnosis."

Charlotte raised her eyebrows, foreshowing her worry for Bonnie's wellbeing, "You sure you're strong enough for this? I am not doubting you but if you are not then you don't have to do it."

"Don't worry, Char," Bonnie sighed, nodding before she explained, "That's what the candles are for. I'll draw power from the flames."

"I'll get the matches," Caroline clapped her hands, moving to leave the room.

Bonnie spoke up, "I got it," She shut her eyes and the candles flared up.

Serena's eyes lit up as she laughed, "Well, that was...Wow."

"Never gonna get used to that," Jeremy shook his head.

Charlotte smiled, adding, "Me neither."

Caroline smiled, placing her hands on her hips, "Oh, come on. That's pretty hot, and you know it."

Jeremy smiled and Bonnie looked up at him, "I need a bowl of water."

He stammered, nodding, "Yeah, yeah. I'll--I'll go get it," Jeremy exited the room.

Caroline smiled broadly down at Bonnie as the witch asked, confused, "Okay. What was that? It's hot?"

Charlotte added, raising her eyebrows, "And earlier at the Grill...sex smile? Really?"

The blonde vampire grinned, claiming, "He is so crushing on you."

"So?"

Serena rolled her eyes, sitting down on the floor next to Bonnie, "So, Caroline Forbes is playing matchmaker."

Caroline sat down on the floor across from Bonnie, "What, you'd rather be with traitor warlock over here?"

Bonnie looked down at him, shaking her head with a shrug, "I'm not into Luka. It's just, you know, he understood me, and he was new and different."

Caroline sighed, continuing, "And you've known Jeremy since forever, and you only see him one way, as Elena's brother," She paused, claiming, "But you're a witch, Charlotte and I are vampires, Serena— okay, she is the only normal one here."

"It's okay," Serena shrugged her shoulders, not showing any sign of emotion on her face, "You can say that I have a fucked up family, I don't mind, won't make it any less true."

Caroline shook her head, sending the brunette a sympathetic glance, "The point is, we are not really in any position..."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "To be picky?"

"No," Caroline laughed, shaking her head, "To judge."

The trio of best friends smiled at each other as Charlotte watched, crossing her arms, happy to find everything going good for once. Jeremy walked back into the room with a bowl of water.

Bonnie took the bowl from Jeremy and placed it on the floor by Luka's head, "Looks like he's waking up," Jeremy stated.

She dipped her hands in the water and placed them on either side of Luka's head. Bonnie shut her eyes and performed a non-verbal spell which was shown to be working by the flames of the candles flaring up intensely as Luka started to breathe heavily.

"How long is this gonna take?" Caroline asked, subconsciously biting on her nails.

"I don't know," Bonnie shook her head, answering, "He's fighting me."

Luka was moving his head around, fighting the spell. Bonnie's hands were still placed on either side of his head, "Please stop. Please," She closed her eyes and Luka soon followed suit, successfully having been put into a trance.

"There," She sighed before starting, "Alright. Why are you working with Elijah?"

"Klaus...," Luka answered, finishing, "We both want him dead."

Bonnie frowned, questioning, "You want to kill Klaus, too. Why?"

Charlotte crossed her arms, standing at the end of them, biting her bottom lip in anticipation as Luka answered once again, "Because he has her and we have to get her away from him."

She was confused, inquiring, "Who...who are you talking about?"

"My sister."

"His sister?" Serena and Jeremy questioned at the same time, shaking their heads at one another.

"Why does he have her?"

The hypnotized witch said, "He's searching for a way to undo the curse without the doppelgänger," He paused, claiming, "He's forced generations of witches to help him for centuries."

She asked, "What has Elijah promised you?"

"If we help Elijah kill Klaus, he's promised to return her to us."

"And how do you kill Klaus? How do you kill an Original vampire?" Bonnie asked the one hundred million dollar question, at last.

He started to fight the spell again, "He'll kill me if I tell you. Don't make me."

Charlotte walked in, backing him up, "It's okay, Bonnie...we can try another way."

"No," She insisted, putting Luka back in trance, "How will you kill Klaus?"

"After the sacrifice, Klaus will be vulnerable, weak," Luka answered as Charlotte shrank back at the end of the room, "It's our only chance."

"After the sacrifice?" Caroline noted, raising her eyebrows.

"What do you mean, after?"

He repeated himself, "Klaus will be vulnerable."

"But Elena will be dead," Bonnie shook her head, realizing.

"Yes. Elena has to die."

She looked up at Jeremy as he whispered, shaking his head, "No."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte carried Cassie in her arms, getting out of Serena's car as they stopped at the Bernards' house. "What a day."

"Indeed."

Serena sighed, unlocking the door and letting Charlotte in first to place Cassie in her bed. She sat on her couch, pulling a pack of chips from a drawer in the kitchen. The brunette vampire descended downstairs, letting out a long sigh.

"Everything is going so hectic...I mean why Elena...why now?" Serena shook her head, asking.

Charlotte shrugged, "I don't know but I wish I did."

Serena looked deep in thought before she voiced, "When Bonnie revealed that Elena had to die...we were all shocked and we didn't know what to say but you weren't."

Charlotte gulped, rubbing her hands on her jeans, "Serena..."

"Wait, did you know about this? Were you covering for Paulina, now?"

Charlotte shook her head, "No, no, I swear I wasn't. Look I was there when Elena made the deal with Elijah and she made me promise not to tell any of you about that part and...," She stammered, rising to her feet as she started to pace, "I just had to. I have never lied, ever but she is my friend...and she needed me."

Serena sounded betrayed as she scoffed out, "What, so we are not your friends now?"

"None of my friends ever asked me to lie to another...I didn't know what to do, Serena..."

Serena shook her head, not even trying to hide her disappointment, "You do what's right for your friends. That's what you do."

She rose to her feet, making her way upstairs, "Close the door on your way out."

Charlotte squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head at herself before walking to the door and closing it after leaving.

✵ ✵ ✵