𝟔𝟑

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

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄━═☆

Charlotte took a deep breath, looking at her reflection in the mirror as she rubbed vaseline on her lips, trying to desperately erase everything about her...moment with Stefan two hours ago.

"You can't do that," She pulled away from him, using her hand to rub her lips as though cleaning them, "How dare you just kiss me..."

"Charlotte, I—"

Every word coming out of his mouth was making her hate herself and coming back in the very first place. She should have never thought about giving him a second chance ever. He wouldn't have used it the way she wanted him to.

She just needed a friend but apparently, Stefan needed something else at the time and Charlotte had had enough of being what everyone needs when they need her to be. No more, people work on themselves and their needs, they are not supposed to be her problems or responsibilities.

Charlotte cut him off, shaking her head, "You thought I was always going to be around, huh? That whatever happens between you and Elena, it won't matter? Why?" She chuckled humorlessly, shrugging her shoulders, "Because Charlotte is there! She is the backup!"

"You are not anyone's backup," Stefan shook his head, claiming.

"News flash, Stefan. I am not always going to be around. I won't be sitting here and dreaming about the day you think about coming back to me. I let go of that a while ago," She admitted, sucking in a deep breath, "I don't love you anymore and I don't want you in my life."

Charlotte backed away from him, turning to walk away, "So, just...take a hint."

Even if she lied and wasn't one hundred percent over Stefan, Charlotte had to accept that it's for the better. They were over in every possible meaning. Any other retracts or undeserved second chances would be a step down from all her work to become a better Charlotte Bernard and she wouldn't do anything to ruin that.

Now wasn't the time for Stefan or anyone else, it was for her. She needed her own attention and to work out a way to tell Elena about what happened.

Charlotte's phone rang as she descended the stairs of the empty Salvatore Boarding House, she picked it up, "Hey, Jer. Everything okay?"

"No...no, Elena fainted and I—"

Charlotte bit her bottom lip, interjecting, "Please don't tell me you took her to the hospital."

The Gilbert boy sassily replied on the other line, "Charlotte, When you find your sister unconscious, you call 911."

"On normal days," The brunette rolled her eyes, stating, "Okay, finish off the discharge papers. I am on my way. We need to take her home like right now...Every remaining Original is gonna want Elena dead to stop Alaric."

"Well, Meredith wants to keep her here for observation."

"Jeremy, sweetheart. Just trust me on this."

✵ ✵ ✵

Tyler and Matt opened the front door as Caroline and Charlotte walked in behind them each of the two had an arm looped with Elena's, "Couch," Caroline pointed over before seating her down as Charlotte moved out of the way.

"I'm fine. I just...I want something to eat first."

"I am on it!" Charlotte raised her hand up, declaring, "We all know I am the best cook here."

"Good," Tyler nodded before stating, "And we are going to make sure no one is lurking in the closets."

The boys walked upstairs as Charlotte rubbed her hands together, turning to Elena, "Alright, what do you want to eat? I have this recipe for chicken soup. It sounds like a sick person's food but believe me, it's—"

Elena cut her off, a small reassuring smile on her face, "Charlotte, I am fine, really."

"Uh, no, you are not," Caroline shook her head, taking a blanket off a chair and straight to Elena, "Doctor says rest, you rest."

Charlotte noticed Elena glance her way before shrugging her shoulders, "She is in charge. I am just her moral support," Caroline raised her eyebrows at that making the brunette vampire add, "Not that she needs any but...you know, don't look me like that, you two."

The blonde chuckled, shaking her head, "Now, what can I get you? Do you want some tea, maybe some vodka?" She shrugged her shoulders with a wide smile on her lips, "Both will help you sleep."

Charlotte chuckled as Elena took a look at Caroline, the blonde sat down sighing, "I know, I'm being smothering. It's what I do."

"No, it's...it's nice."

She rose to her feet again, tilting her head a little, "I'm thinking...maybe tea with vodka."

The three of them laughed before Caroline made her way to the kitchen. Charlotte rubbed her hands together, attempting to follow her before taking a look at Elena.

"Hey, Elena...I need to tell you something and not because I did anything wrong because I didn't, if anything I did the right thing but—"

Elena interrupted her rant, "Can you tell me later? I am just...really tired."

Charlotte ran her tongue over her bottom lip before nodding, "Yeah, yeah, of course. You need to rest."

She made her way to the kitchen and opened the Gilbert's fridge, pulling out a frozen chicken and a few other vegetables for her soup as Caroline raised an eyebrow, "What was that about?"

"It's...it's nothing," She shook her head, sighing as Caroline raised an eyebrow, letting her know that she didn't believe that, "Alright, if I told you, do you promise not to comment in the way you always comment?"

"Ah...how do I comment?"

"Don't get me wrong, I love your commentary," Charlotte stated before adding with a bittersweet smile on her lips, "Just not when it's about me."

The blonde vampire pulled out a bottle of vodka from the cupboard, "Fine, just fess up."

"Stefan kissed me," She blurted out before rubbing the back of her neck, "Can you move out of the way, I need to get a pan."

"Hold up, what?" The Forbes girl scoffed out as Charlotte motioned for her with her hands that she needs the pan, "Forget the pan and the frecking chicken soup. You kissed Stefan—I mean, Stefan kissed you?"

"Am I supposed to be offended by that question?" Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion.

Caroline shook her head before inhaling sharply, "It's just...why would he do that? Elena is his epic love...He can't just be moving on. Wait, did you kiss him back?"

The brunette vampire rolled her eyes, "No, Caroline, I did not because as I have stated severally, on many occasions, I want absolutely nothing to do with Stefan."

"So that kiss meant nothing to you?"

"It made him mean less to me, if possible."

Caroline squeezed her eyes shut, "God, he just keeps digging himself deeper. Mistake after another."

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't even know why he bothers anymore. We are never going back to being friends or lovers or acquaintances. It's just over."

"You don't think you are being harsh?"

Charlotte sucked in a deep breath, "Maybe I am, maybe I am not," She folded her arms together, "But one thing's for sure, I have never felt happy with the person I am more than I do now. More than I do when I am caring about myself because I need that. I need that love, I need to love me."

Caroline smiled, squeezing her shoulder in reassurance, "I have been there, it's empowering."

"For someone who identified selfless as just being a normal human being, it's a good different."

✵ ✵ ✵

Elena peeled her eyes open, taking a look at her surroundings to see Matt sitting beside her, "Where is everyone?"

"Tyler and Caroline got a call from their moms, and—"

"I am right here!" Charlotte walked in with a tray in hand, holding her famous chicken soup, "With the food."

She placed it down on Elena's lap before taking two chocolate bars off the tray that weren't visible when she first walked in. Charlotte sat at the coffee table before handing Matt one, "Here, you must be hungry but this soup is sick people soup."

"Ah, hello, still here," Elena rolled her eyes, reminding her of her presence.

Charlotte pursed her lips together, shrugging, "Well, for you it's normal people soup—but for him, it's sick people soup."

"Wow, you are so considerate."

"Don't I know?"

The two of them laughed softly before Charlotte turned to Matt, "Hey, can you give us a few minutes. I need to talk to Elena."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

He got up as Elena raised an eyebrow, "That was...suspicious."

Charlotte ran her tongue over her bottom lip. She was suddenly worried to death and her heart race picked up. She had to be very careful with her wordings, she couldn't lose Elena for Stefan's mistakes.

"What happened?" Elena reached over to squeeze her hand in reassurance, "You know you can tell me anything."

"Stefan kissed me."

"And I didn't like it, I have no feelings for him and I am not telling you this to ruin your relationship or anything but if this is the person you choose then I would like it if you are one hundred percent sure of his feelings towards you..."

It had gotten quiet as Charlotte looked up at her, "It's not my fault he kissed me...I didn't want it to happen and I made that very clear, trust me."

"Why are you so scared that I won't believe you?" Elena spoke up after a few minutes, "Look, Stefan talked to me about this...about not being sure if we can really go back together."

Charlotte's lips parted, she was expecting everything but this, "And you are okay with that?"

Elena sighed, folding her arms over her chest, "I don't think that I want to redo our relationship. I am fine with this."

"So, you picked Damon and Stefan knows that?"

"Yes, he does."

Charlotte pursed her lips together as Elena shrugged her shoulders, "Just give it a chance, Charlotte."

She had no time to respond to that as Stefan walked inside after Matt let him in, greeting, "Hey, how are you two?"

She rose to her feet, stating, "I am going to get something to drink because I am sure that chocolate bar is older than me."

✵ ✵ ✵

Elena was lying on the couch again, while Matt and Stefan were cooking in the kitchen. Charlotte sat down beside her, playing on her phone. Elena nudged the brunette, "Talk to him."

"Rest and stop telling me what to do," Charlotte retorted, rolling her eyes, "Plus, he can literally hear you."

"All the more reason you should just do it..."

"I have said enough to last him a few years, believe me," She sighed, remembering her words from earlier before shaking her head at herself, "It doesn't matter anymore."

"I'm being over coddled," Elena called out, an annoyed huff leaving her lips, "I feel completely fine."

"You're on house arrest," Stefan replied, shrugging his shoulders, "You're supposed to be coddled."

Matt sighed, suggesting, "Wouldn't it be smarter if we just got you the hell out of town?"

"And do what? Go on the run for the rest of my life? No thank you," Elena shook her head before getting up, "And I'm not an invalid. I'm done with the couch."

Charlotte waited for her to leave the room before turning to the boys, "This is your fault, you are not supposed to let a sick person feel like a sick person."

Matt rolled his eyes, retorting, "Says the girl who has been smothering her and giving her sick people food all night."

"She knows I am joking. You two are just...not in on girl code."

"Stefan. Charlotte."

The two vampires exchanged a look when Elena called out before walking to the door, followed by Matt. The front door was wide open, revealing Elijah Mikaelson and Paulina Gilbert standing in front of Elena.

"Lina," Charlotte greeted, "And Elijah..."

"Hi, you missed me?" Paulina greeted before walking in, "Because I haven't missed most of you. Like always, you made a problem. I wanna get rid of it."

"That's one way to make an entrance," Charlotte attempted to hide her smile, commenting.

Paulina shrugged her shoulders, "Well, you know me. I love the dramatics."

A while later, they were all in the kitchen. Elijah and Paulina sat together on the dining table with Elena and Charlotte in front of them but Matt and Stefan were standing still.

"All we need is to take that stake away from him. Once he's been disarmed, the weapon's in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the Earth and Alaric will follow us."

Stefan raised his eyebrows at that, "And you'll just run?"

Elijah nodded, stating, "We've done it before. Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father," He brushed off the matter, finishing, "What's another half century while Elena is able to live out the rest of her natural life?"

Elena sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, "We've finally stopped him, Elijah. After everything that he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back."

Lina bit her bottom lip far too long before speaking up, "Can we not act like you are all saints? Everything we have done since we got back is a reaction. You hit and we hit back."

"You invaded our home!"

"It was my home first and I invaded nothing," Paulina retorted, shaking her head at Elena.

"Can we just all calm down here?" Charlotte asked, looking between the two.

The Gilbert vampire inhaled sharply, "We are getting Klaus back, whether you like it or not but we are here to offer you a chance to trust us."

"I give you my word, Elena. I will not revive Klaus within yours nor even within your children's lifetimes," Elijah promised the doppelganger before sighing, "Perhaps that will finally teach him some manners."

"Why should she trust you? All you've done is screw her over," Matt cut in, asking.

Lina shrugged, "You are probably right," She could see Elijah's eyes piercing into her before finishing, "Don't trust us and I won't walk out of here before you are all dead," She turned to Charlotte, "Excluding you. Seems fair, doesn't it?"

Charlotte shook her head, "This doesn't make it better."

"So Elena, we leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust us or not."

Suddenly, Damon responded as he was on the phone, "Not! Hello? Did that concussion give you brain damage?! His lunatic siblings will kill you the first chance they get!"

"Rebekah and Kol will honor the terms. If you return Klaus' body to us, Elena will come to no harm," Elijah stated, clasping his hands together over the table.

Elena exchanged a look with Charlotte. The Bernard vampire was already blaming herself for being manipulated into putting Klaus down so she didn't bother hiding her eagerness for Elena to take the deal, nodding.

"Do we have a deal?"

"No! No, no, no, no! Did I mention no—"

Damon's voice died down on the other line when Lina reached over and hung up, "Sorry, he was giving me a headache."

"Why do you want Klaus' body?" The doppelganger sighed before asking Elijah.

The Original exhaled, claiming, "He's my brother. We remain together."

"We have a deal."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte rubbed the back of her neck after Jeremy let them know about his meeting with the newly turned Original vampire hunter and his plan to fool him, "You don't have to do this."

"I know but I want to."

Lina rolled her eyes, cutting in, "It's not about what you want, Jeremy. It's down to are you a good liar or not?"

"I said I can do it," He repeated, hating his ancestor's presence more and more by the second.

"Alright, let's see."

Jeremy pressed call and the vampire hunter answered after the second ring, "Yes?"

"I know where Klaus' body is."

"Good," The phone was on speaker as Alaric eagerly asked, "Tell me."

"Damon's on his way to bury him in the woods off Route 12," Jeremy effortlessly lied as Charlotte bit down on her nails, failing to hide her evident worry, "I'll text you with the specifics."

"Thank you, Jeremy. You're doing the right thing for your sister."

"I know," He said before looking over at Elena and hanging up. Stefan, Matt, and Elijah were sitting at the table next to Elena as Jeremy finished, "He bought it."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte zipped up her jacket, getting ready to leave just as Elena said, "Make sure that Alaric doesn't lay a hand on Jeremy. I already told Stefan but I can't stop worrying."

The brunette rolled her eyes, passing Elena a small smile, "Give me a little credit, Elena. Do you really think I would let Jeremy out of my sight?"

"No, just take care of him and yourself."

"And Stefan and every little thing coming with us, do you want a full report on the car we will go with?" Through it all, somehow, Charlotte managed to crack a joke, "Don't worry, Elena. We will be fine."

Elena waited for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders, "Lately, I feel like every time someone walks out of this house, there's a chance they may not make it back home."

Charlotte pursed her lips together, "Well, I have an impressive record with death but I promise that at the very least, they are all going to make it back—"

"With you."

"Fine, yeah, whatever."

"Just in case there's no later if you want to say anything to...a certain someone..."

Charlotte rolled her eyes before pulling Elena close for a hug to cut it short, "I will see you."

She descended the stairs and stopped at the door to find Lina waiting outside with her hands in her pockets. Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't you be with Rebekah to retrieve Klaus already?"

"Yeah, I will get on the road in a few. Just wanted to check in with you."

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, a small smile on her face, "I missed you."

"Yeah, I missed you, too," Lina sighed, asking with a raised eyebrow, "Can you try not to die today? Because I really don't want to have a mental breakdown anytime soon."

"You too, okay?"

"I will try, no promises."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte and Stefan were in the woods with Jeremy for a little while awaiting Alaric's arrival before Damon called, "Bad news. Alaric staked Klaus. He's dead."

"I feel okay, do you feel anything?"

Charlotte's lips parted, taking in the news. So it was all for nothing. At the end of the day, they were all going to die. She knew Klaus wasn't lying, for some reason, Charlotte just felt like he wasn't—which in that scenario would end in the worst possible way.

"Well, if he wasn't lying, an hour is not enough time to get you all the way back to Mystic Falls," Stefan sighed, telling Damon.

"For us to have our epic goodbye, Stefan?" Damon chuckled humorlessly.

"Not us, brother. You and Elena," Stefan shook his head, stating, "She chose you."

Charlotte folded her arms over her chest, letting it all in. They all had an hour. That was it. In one single hour, they will all be dead. There were a lot of thoughts going on through her head but she wasn't ready like she thought she would be.

"Guys. Elena's not at home," Jeremy revealed, sighing, "Matt and I, we're getting her out of town."

Stefan nodded, stating, "It's gonna be fine. Klaus was lying, we're all gonna be okay."

He finished just as Caroline and Elijah showed up, the latter asking, "What happened?"

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "Klaus is dead so we are all gonna die," Stefan turned to her and she sighed, "What does it matter being positive now? It won't change the inevitable."

The brunette claimed before walking further into the woods, in desperate need of a getaway.

A while later, Caroline left to see Tyler. Elijah had gone to see Lina and Rebekah. Charlotte still stood with her arms crossed over her chest as the wind blew past her.

"We are going to make it, I just know so."

She chuckled humorlessly at Stefan, "Yeah, of course," Charlotte glanced at him, shrugging her shoulders, "It's just the tiny chance that in a few minutes we will all be dead."

He sighed, "I am sorry."

"Yeah, me too."

Charlotte pursed her lips together, "You know Elena asked me what I would do if this was it...if there's anything I had to say to anyone," She gave him a look, stating, "And there's nothing to you but considering you are the only one here, you will just have to listen."

"I don't really have a problem with that," Stefan said as the brunette vampire furrowed her eyebrows together.

"Well, I would probably visit the Cemetery if I knew that this was my last day, say goodbye to Fallon and Emmeline because whatever good place they are in—it just can't be for me," She started, rubbing her hands together, it felt like forever since she had uttered her sisters' names, "And I would visit Cassie."

Charlotte tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, claiming, "You know, I never thought about visiting her. I just couldn't accept that she was really gone. That I am the reason she won't have a future or go to college, be someone really good and successful."

"It's not your fault."

She took in a deep breath, looking up at him, "That's what everyone says...maybe you are right. Maybe it's not my fault technically...but she still died in my arms and every time I see a little girl smiling or running around, I remember Cassie and how she would have wanted to be alive."

"I guess that knowing Cassie, as a little girl or a grown woman," Stefan sighed, starting, "She would forgive you and she would want you to forgive yourself."

"She probably would, wouldn't she..."

Charlotte's phone rang after a few moments of comforting silence, she answered it following the second ring, "Hello?"

"You're alive," Lina stated, a relieved sigh escaping her, "That's great. Congratulations."

She ran a hand through her hair, "Yeah, Lina, I am so sorry about Klaus."

"I know, I am sorry too, Charlotte," Was Lina's reply as she took in a deep breath, "Elijah spoke to Elena. She and Matt should be arriving back in town any minute."

Charlotte nodded, folding her arms together, "Yeah, he told us that. He also said you two and Rebekah would be long gone out of town by now."

Lina tsk'd, sighing, "That's the problem." Charlotte's eyebrows furrowed together as the Gilbert vampire continued, "Elijah says we have to run, that the hunter will keep coming after us, but I don't want to run anymore, Charlotte. I spent my whole life running by their side so if it's that and Elena lives then I am sorry, I just don't care about her enough."

"What are you talking about? We had a deal."

"Klaus is dead. There is no deal," She finished, apologizing with faux sincerity, "I will write your friend a good eulogy."

"Lina, no, please don't."

✵ ✵ ✵

hehe, sorry if you thought I was going to make it easy for charlotte and stefan.

let me just say that season 4 is going to be so freaking awesome for char. not entirely all happy but just awesome and we do be reuniting the trio!