𝟕𝟐

a/n: Lottie's dress for the Winter Wonderland charity is above! <3

☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎━═☆

Charlotte believed that everyone has their own little safe space where they felt the most themselves they could, where they could let their guard down, and just be weak or happy or alive...or just free. Given the amount of people who have walked out of her life, she had tried to make her little safe space inside of herself but it never worked out.

That place was taken long ago by two very stubborn owners; Paulina Gilbert, and Angelina Forbes.

She took a quick sip from her milkshake before rushing out, "Wait, wait, and then I walked back inside and stared at her like I was going to end her or something—"

Paulina chuckled, shaking her head, "Please, the only thing you are capable of ending is that milkshake."

Charlotte turned to her, raising her eyebrows, "Rude! And mind you, I can be very threatening when I want to."

Angelina laughed out, "Charlotte and threatening in one sentence?" She shrugged her shoulders before huffing out, "No, not that century or this one."

She rolled her eyes at her two best friends before standing up on the bed, "As I was saying before I was very rudely interrupted," Charlotte said, looking at Lina who only smiled in return, "I just looked at the hybrid and said Respect your elders."

Simultaneously, the two vampires responded.

"Please, you stole that line from Elijah!"

"Should have added Bitch, sounds better, trust me."

"No, unless Elijah has a copyright...then the situation would be very awkward," Charlotte went back to sitting on the bed as she addressed Angelina, "I know right but it felt too impolite."

The blonde vampire rolled her eyes, "That bitch kidnapped my niece and you had your hands around her throat...you two were way past impolite."

"Still, you know since Caroline was unharmed...sort of and everyone is okay...I just don't condone unnecessary damage."

"Or any damage."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow at Lina before the older brunette sighed, "Okay, okay, I will back off...as soon as you tell me what happened with Elena and Caroline. You are mad at them and that just brings me unexplained satisfaction."

Angelina fixed back her hair, checking, "Elena is Katherine's doppelganger, right? Evil duplicate? Are they anything alike?"

Lina answered, "Yes."

Charlotte shook her head, claiming, "No, absolutely not."

Lina folded her arms together, "Correct me if I am wrong, she lied to you about Stefan choosing you over her for what...her ego? And then she went on to be with Damon and fooled the idiot that it was him all along," She gave Charlotte no chance to correct before turning to the Forbes, "Trust me, this has Katherine Pierce written all over it. They look and act alike."

"That's not true!" The Bernard spoke up as the two of them turned to her, awaiting any reasoning for that, "She made a mistake. I don't know why she is with Damon right now...and it's not my business but she made a mistake by not telling me the truth that day."

"A mistake is spilling coffee over your favorite shoes, not this," Angelina pointed out.

"Look, Everybody deserves a second chance. We are not angels and we are allowed to make mistakes," Charlotte stated, exhaling sharply as Lina scoffed out, making her add, "So long as we fix them."

"She is not an angel but you could definitely pass for one," Angelina replied and Charlotte just smiled, turning to her.

"Classic Charlotte," Lina said, sighing, "But you do you, just don't let her use you."

"And what do you suppose is a proper fix to this?" Angelina asked, raising both of her eyebrows, "I mean, I am no saint...but if I have ever done anything like this to anybody, which I am not saying I did, I don't usually plan on fixing it."

The petite brunette took another sip of her milkshake, "I don't know but we will work it out."

"Yeah, well—"

Charlotte cut Lina off before she could start anything else about her, "Angie, did you hear that Paulina very recently broke off a half a century-long engagement?"

Lina pinched the Bernard's arm, "That was uncalled for."

"Half a century?" Angelina genuinely laughed out, "Damn, the commitment, I could never pull that off," She shook her head, "Wow, I am gonna need a drink to swallow this one."

Charlotte jumped up to grab her a bottle, "Bourbon or do you prefer Whiskey? Or Wine? We got it full! Whatever you need to down to discuss Lina's very...interesting love life."

"Mine is interesting?" Lina shook her head, "No, you are not getting out of this," She turned to Angelina, "She slept with two Original vampires, okay, and there's Stefan but he is mostly here for like...safekeeping and there was this human but he is dead now."

"Originals?" Angelina gasped out, "And not one but two."

"She is practically engaged to an Original alright, I am not the big deal here."

"Was."

The Bernard rolled her eyes, "Please, we all know you two can't live without each other, it's just a matter of who will be the mature adult and fix things."

Angelina got up, adding in a slight whisper, "Something tells me it won't be this sulking lady over there."

"You know I can hear you, right?"

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "Isn't that the whole point?"

The Gilbert pulled two pillows from beside her and threw them at the two. Charlotte dodged away just in time as Angelina caught the one she threw, looking very unamused before a smile slowly took over her face.

Lina raised her eyebrows as the two of them exchanged looks, "What?"

"PILLOW FIGHT!"

"No, grow up! You two! C'mon, no!"

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte woke up to her phone's ringtone and knocking on the bedroom, she turned over and fell on the floor in the process. She rubbed the back of her head as the knocking on the door stopped, "Charlotte?"

"Yes, I am awake. One minute."

She pulled herself off the floor and picked up a sweater that was lying at the end of the room before opening the room and stepping outside so she wouldn't wake Lina or Angie. The brunette rubbed the back of her neck, "What do you want so early, Stefan?"

"It's already 12 pm."

She rolled her eyes, rephrasing, "What do you want at 12 pm, Stefan?"

"Long story, short is...we need to distract Klaus. Keep him out of his house as long as we can—"

"I keep hearing a lot of 'we' and it's not nice. Why do I need to help you with anything?"

Stefan sighed, "It's a long story."

"I am willing to hear if it would explain why you woke me up," Charlotte stated, folding her arms together.

He nodded, "Okay, I will wait for you downstairs...you might want to, uh, put on some pants for this," Stefan said before walking past her. She paused, looking down to realize that she did remember to put on a sweater but it was not long enough to compensate for the pants.

She sucked in a deep breath. No, Charlotte, it's not that embarrassing. Just forget it. Another voice replied in the back of her head, No, it's very very embarrassing, and I will remember this forever.

She went back inside and grabbed her jeans as she called over their names, "Angie, Lina! Wake up! 911! Wake up!"

Angelina turned out but didn't open her eyes, "Unless someone I like died, do not wake me up under any circumstances."

"Well, no one you like died but I am about to be humiliated to death so it's close enough!" Charlotte whispered out, knowing full well that Stefan could hear her before running to the bathroom and turning on the tab.

"Charlotte, stop being dramatic," Lina called over, "Your ex saw you in your underwear, so what? It's nothing he hasn't seen before."

Charlotte's face was probably redder than a tomato as she grumbled out, "Can you just get up? Please, I will do anything! I am literally begging you right now!"

"Ugh, what's up with your dramatics?" Angelina got up, sighing as she rubbed the back of her head, "All of this...panicking, is not helping your situation. He could hear you, you know."

She shook her head, answering so proud of herself, "He can't, I turned on the water tab so it would cover the sound of my humiliation and desperate need to be swallowed whole right now."

Lina spoke up, "Yeah, because turning on the water tab doesn't make you suspicious at all."

"Save your smartass comebacks for later, get up," She buttoned up her jeans, adding, "Both of you."

✵ ✵ ✵

Stefan was sitting on the couch opposite Charlotte who had Angelina sitting beside her and Lina, staring him down before the Bernard questioned, "You want me to distract Klaus, why?"

"I got Klaus to tell me a little bit more about this Hunter's sword. You know that map in Jeremy's tattoo? The sword decodes it. It's literally the key to finding the cure."

"And that matters because?"

Stefan raised his eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean? The whole point is finding the cure."

Charlotte shook her head, "The sword decodes a map that is incomplete—"

"But it will be, eventually."

"Jeremy killed a couple of vampires and he can't stand to look at his own sister, there's no way anyone in their right mind is letting you complete that map," She reminded him, scoffing out.

"They are already working on it."

Lina pursed her lips together, "Why do you need the sword today?"

He paused, claiming, "We just need it...for the map to get the cure."

"If I am not mistaken, and I am rarely ever, Klaus also wants the cure and is currently helping your lot," The Gilbert said, folding her arms together, "So why aren't you just waiting for the map to be completed?"

"It has to be tonight."

"That desperation sounds oddly familiar," Lina deduced, "You know something, fess up."

Charlotte took Lina's words in, turning to Stefan as she awaited a response before he sighed, revealing, "Tyler and his hybrids are taking out Klaus tonight."

"Wow, you guys are just packed with action, huh," Angelina commented as the three turned to her, "Oh, sorry, everything just sounds so...intense."

"We need to let him know about this—"

Stefan cut her off, "Are you out of your mind? You want to risk the hybrids coming after you?"

She rolled her eyes, "After last night—"

He interjected, scoffing, "Last night you got lucky, they didn't try to take you because they thought you were much older and more experienced...you won't get lucky again, you can't take them."

"It's not fair to Klaus."

"And this time we are not the ones doing it, we just want the sword."

Charlotte exchanged a look with Lina, waiting for her to say no so they can get that over with but to her surprise, the Gilbert turned to Stefan and nodded, "She will do it, she will distract him but you gotta be fast with turning that place upside. He is paranoid, he will suspect something is wrong as soon as she walks up to him."

The petite brunette stood up quickly, "What? No, I am not doing this—"

"Thank you, Lina," Stefan finished before walking out as Lina called after him, "FYI, I am not making her do this for you!"

The Gilbert sighed and turned to face her friends as Charlotte folded her arms together and Angelina held back a laugh, looking between the two in amusement, "Listen, I can explain."

"I am not doing this, you will have to drag me there and even if you did, I will be spilling all about the hybrids' plan—"

"He will kill them, starting with Tyler, you don't want that, Charlotte," Lina reasoned, inhaling sharply, "Believe it or not, this is the right thing. Whatever the hybrids' plan is, it will fail. I have been around Klaus for a very long time and trust me, much stronger people have tried and failed when he was just a vampire, they are a bunch of kids—"

"We were also a bunch of kids," The Bernard cut her off, rolling her eyes.

"Like your ex said, you got lucky."

"And who said they won't?"

Angelina stepped in, claiming, "Well, we will cross that bridge when we get there but for now, let's just work with what we have."

Charlotte looked between the two of them and spoke up, "I will get upstairs, get dressed for the Winter Wonderland's charity party and that's all," She bit the inside of cheeks, adding, "But if I happen to run into Klaus there, I will try to keep him around."

✵ ✵ ✵

In the Town Square, children were running around in the fake snow and starting snowball fights. Charlotte walked past them, smiling at the little children getting teenagers to paint snowflakes on their faces, and then got inside the Mystic Grill.

She stood in front of the postmodern snowflake that Klaus painted and it didn't take her long to realize she was being watched. Well, that was quick. The brunette turned to see him looking at her, exchanging a few glances before he walked up to her.

"That's one odd snowflake," Charlotte commented when he stopped beside her.

"Is my work really that literal?"

Charlotte chuckled, shaking her head, "Kind of. Good work though, all for charity, hmm."

"What can I say? I am a generous man."

"Yes, of course," Charlotte ran her tongue over her bottom lip, nodding to herself.

"I'm gonna take that as you agreeing with me, for a first," He said before asking, "Can I offer you some champagne?"

She pursed her lips together, "I am not much of a drinker really," Charlotte looked around, adding, "And as the very recently crowned Miss Mystic Falls, it sets a bad example for other high schoolers."

"Well, then it's a good thing the high school part is nearly over."

Charlotte nodded, staring back at him for a few moments before caving in, "Fine, I mean...with my tolerance, one glass of champagne won't hurt plus I kind of owe you."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I am a terrible dancer, you took the lead and it worked, here I am," She responded, inhaling sharply, "So, thank you again."

"It was a pleasure," He claimed before excusing himself to get them some champagne. Charlotte took a deep breath and when she was sure that he can't see her, she pulled out her phone, messaging Lina, He is with me, you can go in.

✵ ✵ ✵

"This is my first time drinking alcohol," Charlotte stated, taking another sip, "It's kind of better than I thought it would be," She paused, savoring the taste, "I was around my sister's rebellious phase when she would steal bottles of liquor from my father's office, her first reaction was a little unsettling."

"What did she start with?"

"Whiskey? I think? Maybe Bourbon?" She shrugged her shoulders, failing to remember.

"Rebellious genes in your family, who would've thought," He commented with a small smirk as Charlotte chuckled, "I am just saying it's not expected."

"I will have you know we were all rebellious in our own way," She claimed, taking a small sip, "Fallon would steal alcohol but my older sister, Emmeline...She would intentionally rip her dresses for events she didn't want to attend and blame it on the fabric, it had my father going mad for as long as I can remember."

Charlotte smiled as a couple of memories played in the back of her head as Klaus asked curiously, "And you?"

"And I...well, I was very unsuspecting but at night, when they would all be asleep...I found myself wondering outside and leaving the house a lot for all the wrong reasons," She revealed, turning to him, "How's that for unexpected?"

Klaus raised an eyebrow, "Would you elaborate on all the wrong reasons?"

"Not the kind of reasons an innocent sweet seventeen-year-old should be leaving her house for," She replied as he raised his eyebrows, the end of his lips curving up in disbelief, "Listen, the cute face helped, they never saw anything coming from me and I might have slightly taken advantage of that."

"Just slightly," He shook his head, laughing.

Charlotte raised her hand up, her thumb and index finger nearly toughing as she repeated after him, "Just slightly."

She sighed, looking down at her empty glass, "Well that ended quicker than intended."

"It doesn't have to," The hybrid said as Charlotte looked up at him. She held her breath as he was staring at her with such intensity that she was beginning to think he was picking out a flaw or something.

"Is there something on my face or...?"

Charlotte's back hit the bathroom's wall as Klaus' lips crashed into hers. He lifted her leg up to his waist as she held onto his shoulders, letting him kiss down her neck and chest. She took off his jacket and quickly unbuttoned his undershirt.

"Someone is in a rush?"

She rolled her eyes, taking off his undershirt, "We are literally doing this in a bathroom, anyone could walk in!"

"Yeah, that's the fun part, the risk," He tsk'd, lifting up the ends of her dress.

"Yes, sure. I am sure it would be very fun if someone had the picture of me having sex in a bathroom engraved in their mind," Charlotte murmured out, wrapping her arms around his neck and feeling his mouth meeting with hers as his hips pounded against her pelvis, "Oh, my God!"

"That's you asking for someone to walk in, love," Klaus' lips pulled away from hers as he stated. She shook her head at him and grabbed his face, bringing his attention back to her lips.

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte couldn't find the pin that held her hair up when she walked out of the bathroom, straightening out the fabric of her dress. The brunette ran her fingers through her hair, hoping that might have helped with her messy situation. She checked her phone to see a message from Stefan, I am outside with Caroline, back door.

She took in a deep breath. Calm down, Charlotte. No need for the walk of shame or any of that stuff.

The Bernard slid her phone back into her purse and made her way outside to the back door, finding Stefan and Caroline out there, "Hey...found anything?"

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows together, looking the petite brunette's disheveled look up and down as Stefan answered, "Nope."

"So, what are we gonna do now?"

"Klaus is the only shot we have at finding the cure. We need him," Stefan shrugged his shoulders, stating, "Tyler has to call it off."

"Well, that's not gonna happen," Came Tyler's voice, making the three vampires turn around to face him on the stairway.

Tyler looked at Caroline, "You told him?" He walked down the remaining steps, continuing, "I've had twelve hybrids sworn to secrecy for a month. I have Hayley and a witch risking their lives and you're blabbing my plan to him?"

"We all knew you were gonna take him down eventually," Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "So, in the grand scheme of things, it's not exactly a surprise or a secret."

Stefan stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Tyler, "Look, all I'm asking you for is a little bit of time, okay?"

"How long? An hour? A day? Because every minute that goes by that we don't do this, they're at risk," Tyler stated before reminding him bitterly, "You and Klaus already served one of them up for Jeremy to kill."

Tyler looked over Stefan's shoulder at Caroline, who looked down shamefully before turning back to Stefan, "I don't owe you anything."

The Lockwood turned around and started to walk away, finishing, "I'm taking him out."

Stefan used his vampire speed and moved in front of Tyler, frightening him, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that."

Charlotte and Caroline looked around themselves, noting that they were surrounded by hybrids as the blonde called out, "Stefan."

"I'm sorry but I can't," Stefan shook his head.

Charlotte called out, looking over his shoulder, "Stefan!" He turned around and saw a half dozen of the hybrids standing on the stairs behind him while the remaining blocked the other side behind Charlotte and Caroline.

"Sorry man, but you don't have a choice."

✵ ✵ ✵

Charlotte folded her arms together, speaking up, "Tyler, this is all really unnecessary, if you would just listen—"

She was cut off when he dropped down the chains he used back when he had to turn every full moon, "Keep them down here until we're ready to bring Klaus in, use these if you have to."

Stefan walked up to him, "Come on, Tyler, this is bigger than you. It's about more than revenge for us."

The hybrid shook his head, scoffing out, "I know what it's about for you, Stefan. It's about the cure," He raised an eyebrow, asking, "You know what happens to a hybrid when he's cured of being a vampire?"

"We go back to being werewolves; turning on every full moon. We could give a rat's ass about the cure."

He walked past Stefan and Charlotte as Caroline called after him, "Tyler, come on."

"I needed you on my side, Care. That's all I wanted."

✵ ✵ ✵

"Ugh, this is ridiculous. We are not hostages!" Caroline grumbled out, shaking her head.

"Sure you are, sweetie."

Caroline held herself together, turning to Charlotte, "What's up with you?"

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows together, shrugging, "What's up with me?"

She stared at Charlotte for a few minutes longer, bringing Stefan's attention to what's wrong as Charlotte shook her head quickly, "This is seriously not the time for this."

"Oh, my God...," Caroline's eyes widened, "You didn't."

"Didn't what? What did she do?" Stefan questioned in confusion as Charlotte subtly fixed up the ends of her dress. He took in that action, the weirdly messy look, and the look of disbelief on Caroline's face as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "You told me to—"

"I told you to distract him, I didn't tell you to screw him!"

She held her breath, biting the inside of her cheeks, "Well, I assure you that he was very distracted."

Stefan's phone started to ring before he could reply to that, the other hybrids started to advance on him, "Relax. It's my brother," He answered the phone, "What's up?"

"Don't ask how or why or who, but I just found the answer to your Tyler problem."

Stefan raised his eyebrows, "You are kidding," He then hangs up and turns to the two vampires with him, "We don't need the sword."

✵ ✵ ✵

As soon as she was out of the Lockwood Cellar, Charlotte walked back to the Salvatore Boarding House. Caroline kept her updated but for most of it, she did all she had to do that day to help...and maybe more than she had to.

She walked in on Lina and Angelina in front of a new TV screen in her room and raised her eyebrows as Lina replied, "I thought I would put it in the living room but that would count as a gift to the Salvatores and I would rather bury myself alive."

"Yeah, that kind of sucks."

"Burying yourself alive?"

"Gifting the Salvatores?"

Charlotte and Lina questioned at the same time as Angelina replied, "I had the whole buried alive experience so gifting the Salvatores couldn't be that bad."

"What?"

"We have been talking since the moment you got here and you didn't think to cut us off with that?"

Angelina chuckled, "I just wanted to hear all about my friends' quite tangled love life before I spoke about my actionless one."

"Well, that love life got more tangled," Charlotte commented, stepping out of her heels and moving to sit in between the two of them, "I had sex with Klaus...in a bathroom," She paused, repeating for herself, "I had sex with Klaus."

"Bathroom...out of all the places," Lina rolled her eyes.

The younger brunette shrugged her shoulders, "It's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a little...risky."

✵ ✵ ✵