𝟓𝟐

a/n: Char's outfit for the chapter is on the left and her dress for the Homecoming dance is on the right!

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎━═☆

Paulina knocked on Charlotte's door before walking in, "Wake up, sunshine. You have got school!"

Charlotte rolled over, pulling her head out from under the blanket for a few seconds to groan, "It's too early...Go away."

The Gilbert huffed out, sitting down on the bed before she pulled the covers off of Charlotte, "Get up, you have school. It's important. Plus, you love early," She added before looking down at Charlotte's phone that was still in her hands, "What happened to closing off cell phones and sleeping early?"

"Nothing," Charlotte said, dropping her phone on the nightstand before turning around to continue sleeping.

Paulina furrowed her eyebrows together before reaching for the phone. She opened the call log and smirked, "Up all night on the phone with...Kol?"

"No, it was just a few hours," She sat up and pulled her phone back as Paulina chuckled, shaking her head.

"But your phone history says you hung up an hour ago," The Gilbert raised her eyebrows, the smirk still evident on her lips, "Is this something I should be worried about?"

Charlotte got out of bed, sighing, "We were just...talking, for hours," She shrugged, turning to face Paulina, "He is easy to talk to."

Paulina smiled, placing a hand under her chin, "What did you talk about?"

"Nothing...and everything, at the same time."

"Awww," Paulina grinned, rising to her feet, "This cuteness warms my cold dead heart, I can't—"

Charlotte cut her off, throwing a pillow at her. Paulina laughed out, catching it easily as the Bernard huffed out, "Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything," She responded, holding back her laugh.

"You didn't have to...just stop teasing me like that."

"Alright fine," Paulina clapped her hands, making her way out of the room before she paused at the door, "I warn you, he is a heartbreaker and you have had enough of that to last you a lifetime."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, not believing it, "If he was, you would be jumping at his throat for even talking to me."

"I probably should," She pursed her lips together, thinking as Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "But, I am learning from my mistakes. I won't interfere unless he is in the act of overstepping your boundaries or trying too hard."

"I am here if you need me," She sighed, finishing.

Charlotte mirrored her smile, "Thank you, I love you!" She called out as Paulina walked out of the room.

"I love you, too! Now get ready for school. I don't have all day!"

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte helped hang up the balloons for the dance before one of her classmates helped her off the ladder, "Thank you."

"No probs, I gave you my vote!"

She furrowed her eyebrows together, "For what?"

"Homecoming Queen, you are going to rock!" Audrey, her classmate from Biology, said, smiling enthusiastically before taking the ladder to hang up the rest of the decorations in another corner.

Charlotte's lips parted, "But I never put my name in...," She shook her head, walking to hang up something else, "Hey, Chad, did you see that glittery trickling thing...I don't know its name really."

Chad chuckled, picking it up for her, "I don't know its name either but here it is," He handed it to her, winking, "You got my vote, too, by the way."

She raised her eyebrows, nodding before walking over to Caroline at the end of the room, "Okay, what the hell is going on? That's like the fifth person I ran into saying they gave me their vote...I never put my name to be Homecoming Queen."

"Well, of course, you didn't because I did," Caroline shrugged her shoulders, turning around to place one of the paper crowns on Charlotte's head.

"You are joking, right?"

Caroline shook her head, "No, I am not. I am not letting Dana take this or Rebekah and you deserve it much more."

"But Rebekah would really like this and she is beautiful and—"

The blonde vampire interjected, "Well, Rebekah isn't friends with me. She has no chance against you, not with me on your side."

Charlotte chuckled, shaking her head, "But I never wanted this."

"Best Queens never want it. They just do it for the better of their kingdom," Caroline whispered, mimicking mysteriousness as she nudged Charlotte, "C'mon, lighten up. You will make a fantastic Homecoming Queen."

"Without a king?"

"Oh, I got you a date!"

Charlotte folded her arms together, murmuring, "Oh, uh...I should be worried."

"You are not funny," Caroline rolled her eyes, continuing either way, "His name is James. He is cute, he is on the drama club and he is so close to being voted Homecoming King."

"I don't know...I kind of wanted to do this solo."

"Shhh, nonsense. I know what's best."

✵ ✵ ✵

Serena sat with her mother in the Mystic Grill, having a cup of tea as the older of the two kept the conversation going, "Which is why I decided that I need to come back home, to you, baby. I couldn't leave you alone."

Serena pursed her lips together, "You know this is all very sentimental and heartwarming but I don't believe it and I don't believe you."

Coralie sighed, folding her arms over the table, "After what happened with your sister, you need me...we both need each other to get past this, and if you could just forgive me for what happened before then—"

"Then I would be extremely stupid," Serena stated, leaning back on her chair, "Be honest, mom. What do you want? Why are you really here? We both know that you don't care what happens to me. Don't pretend now."

"Serena, I am so tired of saying this over and over again," Coralie scoffed out, placing her cup on the table, "I love you, I am your mother and I am here for you."

"I don't need you and I obviously don't want you here," The brunette teenager claimed, meaning every word. Coralie Bernard was the last person allowed to walk into her life whenever she wanted and treat her like some train station.

She breathed out, "What can I do to get you to get you to forgive me, Rena?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yes, yes. I really do."

Serena leaned over, her hands on the table as she said, "Walk away. Forget about me and I promise that I will forget about you, too."

"But I want to be here...to be part of your life...," Coralie sighed, almost crying out.

"You don't get to choose when you are a part of my life," Serena shook her head, rising to her feet, "You walked out and left me years ago. You are either always in my life or never at all."

"I don't want you here and I never will...so just have some dignity and leave. If you really loved me then you would stop making my life harder than it is."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte was curling Caroline's hair as the blonde claimed, "You have totally got this thing in your pocket. I mean who else could be our Homecoming Queen?"

"Just about...any other girl," The brunette stated, rolling her eyes, "I mean there are a lot of girls who worked hard for this."

"And I told you before none of them are you and none of them are friends with me," Caroline responded, reminding her, "Now, focus on the hair! Please!"

Charlotte huffed out, "You are unbelievable."

"Yeah but you love it."

"Somehow," She rolled her eyes before placing down the curler, "All done."

Caroline smiled, twirling one of her curls with her finger, "Wow...I will never get over how fast you do this."

"It's just easy," She shrugged her shoulders, moving over to pull her dress out of her bag, "Look I didn't want to go overboard with the dress but Paulina and Rebekah had it prepared already so...I just had to go along. They were...too excited."

"It's silver, will bring out your eyes, and will match the crown," The blonde vampire noted, holding it up, "Perfect."

"You sure about this?"

"Positive! Now put it on!"

✵ ✵ ✵

They arrived in time at their high school, after hours of Caroline constantly changing Charlotte's look to match the dress and the yet to be retrieved 'crown'. The fire brigade was there. There was water flooding the place.

"What happened?" Caroline questioned, looking over at the school.

"The gym is flooded," Tyler shrugged his shoulders, answering.

"What?"

"Dance is canceled."

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows together, her lips forming a pout, "But it took me two hours to get ready...I can't just transfer the night to Netflix and chill in bed."

Caroline turned to her, shaking her head, "No, we are not doing that!"

"Then what are we doing?"

"Let's just transfer the party to my place," Tyler offered as if it was the best idea ever.

The Bernard raised an eyebrow, commenting, "Kegs and beer pong for Homecoming? That's...not what I had in mind."

Caroline sighed, "Okay, we will do it."

✵ ✵ ✵

Caroline drove to the Lockwood mansion with Bonnie and Charlotte. The trio walked in, amazed. There was a rock band playing in the garden; everyone from the school was there.

Caroline's lips parted as she looked around, "How did he plan a better party than me so fast? What? Is that a band outside?"

Bonnie asked, raising her eyebrows, "Who are all these people?"

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, claiming, "I can barely recognize anyone."

Dana smiled, walking up to the girls, "Hey, guys!" She had the plastic crown in her hands before giving it over to Charlotte, "Hey, you won! But with all the flood and drama...there's really no sort of call out so here you go."

Charlotte nodded, taking it from her hand as Caroline shook her head, "What do you mean they are not calling out the Homecoming King and Queen."

Dana shrugged, not knowing what to say, "It's just what Tyler said."

"This is weird! Where is Tyler?"

Charlotte pursed her lips in a straight line before Bonnie chuckled, shaking her head. The witch helped her put on the plastic crown, "Here you go, fits perfectly."

✵ ✵ ✵

Serena sipped on her punch, looking around at the party. She didn't plan on coming but considering it was a few blocks from her house now that it had been transferred and Jacob and her mother were having great fun in her living room. She felt the need to be anywhere but her home.

She watched Charlotte smiling and greeting some of their classmates, it was obvious they were congratulating her as the new voted Homecoming Queen and although Serena shouldn't care about any of that. She mirrored the vampire's smile when she looked her way. This was her day and some part of her just didn't want to ruin it.

Charlotte smiled politely, taking James' hand when he asked her to dance. She might have hated Caroline's matchmaking skills but the poor boy didn't deserve to be left dateless in the Homecoming dance.

"So...you won? It's a big deal for your Miss Mystic application, right?" James asked, in hopes of starting a conversation.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow before shaking her head as he questioned, "Is something wrong?"

"No, I was just going to ask what made you think I would be on it but knowing Caroline my name has probably been on the list for a while now," She chuckled, sighing.

He nodded, adding, "Yeah, she is pretty controlling, right?"

"She is a nice friend," Charlotte stated, not liking his tone.

"I just can't understand how anyone can stand her—"

She cut him off, pulling away from him, "Well, you are no picnic either," Charlotte flattened out her dress, claiming, "For your information, she felt bad about you coming here alone...but to hell with that."

The Bernard walked away from him, exhaling sharply before she pumped into someone whilst looking through her purse, "Oh...someone is in a mood."

She looked up, the glare still etched onto her face before she recognized him, "Kol?" Charlotte's face went from 'can't stand this place' to overjoyed in a matter of seconds.

"Homecoming Queen, eh?"

She chuckled softly, shrugging her shoulders, "I didn't sign up for this, just so you know."

Kol raised an eyebrow, "But you did strike me as the scary beautiful witch...How could I have been so wrong?" She playfully hit his chest, "Kidding, kidding...You look gorgeous."

"Well, I would say so do you but I was taught not to lie," Charlotte responded, biting her bottom lip when he shook his head at her, "But it's not bad."

"Would you let me have this dance?" He offered her his hand, lowering his voice to claim, "I got much better since our last dance."

"I don't see a reason not to," She replied, smiling before replying to his last statement, "Yeah, we will see about that. You are a terrible dancer."

"How dare you..."

"Hey, just honesty here."

A while had passed of the two just dancing and talking about everything that would come to mind at the time, Kol was quite the flirt and it amused her. Charlotte could wholeheartedly admit that that was the first time she was actually enjoying a school dance without having to worry about the next problem.

Her phone buzzed in her purse. Oops, spoke too soon.

She apologized, pulling away from him to check her phone. Charlotte's eyes widened, reading Paulina's message, Mikael is going to kill Klaus. Warn him.

"What's wrong?" Kol asked in concern, seeing the color leave her face.

"I need to find, Klaus," Charlotte gulped, looking around her at mostly unfamiliar faces, "Where is he? Where the hell is your brother?"

"What is going on?"

"I don't know!"

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte had calmed down a whole lot more when she spotted Klaus, playing beer pong. She ran over to him, followed by Kol, who had yet to know what the hell was going on, "Uh, Klaus..." She called out, not knowing whether to just jump in and interrupt the game or what.

"Wait, I'm on the brink of victory here," He replied before Kol rolled his eyes, walking over to pull him away from the group of sired hybrids, "What is wrong with you—"

Charlotte cut him off, blurting out, "Uh...the Salvatores plan to kill you, I thought you should know but can you just try not to kill them while staying alive at the same time? Pretty please?"

"And you are telling me this because...?"

She pursed her lips together, "Is the reason important?" He nodded before Charlotte answered, "Well, you see I think Paulina is doing that whole double agent thing again...and we are kind of in a good place so if she doesn't want you to die then I shouldn't want you to die. So, just don't die, okay?"

Kol chuckled at her persistence, "I think he got the point, darling."

She sighed, nodding before one of Klaus' hybrids came up to them, "You have a visitor, he said his name is Mikael."

Klaus and Kol exchanged a look before the latter shrugged, "Then we mustn't keep our father waiting."

Klaus ordered his hybrids to move everyone out and to the back before Kol turned to Charlotte, "You should probably leave now, darling."

"Uh...but—"

"Just trust me on this, you wouldn't want to be here when this goes down."

Charlotte sighed, nodding before she forced a smile on her face, "Take care of yourself?"

"Always."

✵ ✵ ✵

Serena chuckled, walking out of the back door at the Lockwood's, "Yeah, I will see you on Monday!"

"You too, Bernard!"

The brunette pulled her hair up in a ponytail, in an attempt to keep the wild curls away from her face. She was looking down and accidentally pumped into someone, "Uh, excuse me...but I couldn't help but overhear your last name?"

"What do you want, creep?" She raised her eyebrows, taking a step back.

"Oh, nothing bad. If everything goes according to the plan then you shall arrive to your home unharmed...If."

She couldn't understand a word of what he was saying but in less than a few seconds, he had her unconscious in his arms, "That was...oddly easy."

✵ ✵ ✵

Kol and Klaus went to the front door, Mikael was in the doorway, greeting, "Hello, Niklaus...Kol."

"Hello, Mikael. Why don't you come in? Oh, that's right," Klaus smirked tauntingly, "I forgot you can't."

"Or you can come outside if you want."

Kol tilted his head back, claiming, "Oh, but that's no fun."

Klaus nodded, agreeing, "I could just watch my hybrids tear you limb from limb."

A group of hybrids gathered behind Mikael on the lawn, "They can't kill me."

"True. But it'll make a hell of a party game," The Original hybrid retorted, raising up two of his fingers, "All I have to do is rub these two fingers together and they'll pounce."

Mikael mocked, "The big bad wolf. You haven't changed. Still hiding behind your playthings like a coward. You only forget," He revealed ever so smugly, "They may be sired by you, but they're still part vampire. And they can be compelled by me."

"You didn't forget to put them on vervain, did you?" Kol turned to his older brother, questioning.

"I didn't know I was supposed to..."

Mindy walked up behind Mikael and pushed Katherine—disguised as Elena and Serena to him, "Come out and face me, Niklaus. Or they die."

"Go ahead. Kill them both."

"No, Klaus. He'll do it," Elena/Katherine cried out.

Mikael reminded him, "If she dies, this lot will be the last of your abominations," He nudged Serena before wrapping an arm around her neck, "And I know how valuable she is to that sick girl you call a sister-in-law, Serena Bernard might not live long now..."

"I don't need either. I just need to be rid of you."

Charlotte was out of the Lockwood mansion but before she could get on the sidewalk, she heard something explode and couldn't help but run back there. The second she arrived, she regretted it.

The Bernard vampire froze in her place, seeing Serena on the floor, not moving a muscle, "No...this can't be true. She can't be dead."

In the few moments Charlotte was too busy being shocked, Klaus had killed Mikael thus ruining Damon's so-called plan. She kept looking over at Serena's body as if there was a possible chance that couldn't be true. She couldn't be just...gone.

✵ ✵ ✵

"She wouldn't talk to me," Elena sighed, walking out of Charlotte's room at the Salvatore Boarding House, "She is in shock...and she has every right to be."

"We thought of everything, Elena! Klaus having hybrids. Mikael turning on us. We brought in Katherine so you weren't in danger. Anything that could have gone wrong we were prepared!" He threw his bottle to the floor, shattering it to pieces, "And now Serena is...dead."

Charlotte looked over at her niece, she couldn't say anything but she was crying, despite her many attempts not to. Somehow, she managed to find a way to pin that on herself. She could have protected Serena— she should have.

She shook her head, resting her head on her knees that she had hugged to her chest, "I am sorry...I am so sorry—"

A loud gasp rang through the house, cutting Charlotte's apologies off. She looked up to see Serena's eyes wide open as she sat up.

✵ ✵ ✵