everyonelives | i'm leaving you my last curse

I would assume so. He seems to know more than we do.

[She sets her jaw because a lot of what she learned about vampires growing up has her jumping to so many conclusions. Caroline called this Stefan. Is Stefan responsible for Caroline being a vampire? Does Elena know, or did he compel her into being okay with it?

And then ...]

Do you think Liz and Bill knew?

And everyone's just okay with this.

( Elena. Jeremy. Bonnie. Buffy. What kind of name is Buffy? Everything he knows about vampires has his hairs on edge. And now there are two under the same roof. )

Bill, who left his family for a man and moved to Georgia? ( He was always absent, anyway. Knee-deep in the town. He loved Caroline, but he picked and chose his time with her. Especially the old she got. ) Liz had to have.

[She shakes her head slowly, because she just can't believe that Caroline Forbes is dead. It's hard for her to believe that anyone's dead. But it's especially salt in the wound that her daughter is just standing there acting like she's right there when a vampire's taken her place.]

This isn't right.

No, it isn't. But we know what she's going to do if we make it a thing. I say, we keep up this charade. If everyone else is going to pretend that two dead bloodsuckers aren't two dead bloodsuckers, then we can, too.

( They'll break bread and smile.

Ezra stands behind them, holding Irina up with one arm. He did not mean to walk in on this conversation. He was just going to bring her to the kitchen.

He clears his throat, needing to move around or past them. )

[Miranda glances over, before blinking and shaking her head.]

Sorry, Ezra.

[And she'll step to the side so that he and Irina can get into the kitchen.]

( He waits a second, considering whether or not to say something. )

I met your daughter long after your deaths, and when she spoke about you both, it was fond memories of game nights and town events. Nowhere in her stories did she mention that you both were hard-headed bigots.

( "Excuse me?" )

Elena chooses her people carefully. Caroline is one of her best friends. She died, partially, because you two took your secrets to the grave and the town was already destabilized. She's grown now. They both are. Now, I know I'm not going to change your minds, but everything you know about vampires? Was handed down to you by people who didn't know vampires. There are good and bad people, too. Vampires are people. Witches. Are people. Liars. Are people. If you'll excuse me.

( He takes her up on her side-step finally, bringing Irina into the kitchen and setting her down on one of the chairs. )

Morning, Dean!

( Dean turns around, sees Ezra, the small girl, and turns the music back down. "Morning. It's called a pump up mix. Starts the day right."

And it's Dean's mix, so, it's all classic rock. )

[Miranda would comment how that's rich coming from someone who was put into her daughter's life to manipulate her to a certain extent but she's not fast enough, and maybe that's for the best. She would also note that it's not her fault that she woke up twenty years later and everything was different.

But instead she swallows it and just resumes helping her husband get the coffee.

Ezra also fails to mention that vampires have super-hearing, and no matter how quiet you are, the bunker is an enclosed space. Elena doesn't hear it, but Caroline certainly does, and while she appreciates Ezra sticking up for her, it's probably better for her to go have some feelings where it doesn't have to be other people's problem.]

I think I need some air. Maybe try and get Stefan again. Do we need anything?

[Elena blinks at her, confused, before shrugging. "Ice? Every party always needs ice."]

Then I will go grab some ice.

( Ryan has never been a man of perfect timing, but vampire hearing and speed go a long way when he overhears what he does. And, Bonnie and Buffy sound like they're in trouble, so he will volunteer himself to accompany his girlfriend to get said ice.

He's behind her, then, a mighty steed.

He knows, Caroline. He heard. It's both not their faults (the timing, how they were raised) and also entirely their faults.

But, Ryan won't make it their faults. He has more grace than that. Secret's out of the bag. It is what it is. )

I heard we need ice.

[She glances back to him, and there's a small grateful expression as she nods, before swiping at the corner of her eye.]

Yeah. I was gonna run and get some if you want to come.

[And maybe let her talk at him a little.]

I was planning on it.

( He'll drive, let her talk at him. He never minds when she talks. )

Morning, Elena.

( He doesn't want to say sorry about Bonnie and Buffy, because he's going to be an optimist. Everyone in that castle has survived. And most of them are super-powered. Not that vampires can't get blown up. But. No. He doesn't think like that. )

You ready?

( Ryan blocks Caroline from the kitchen, walking on her left. He catches snippets of parental judgment and Ezra asking Irina how she wants her eggs. Somewhere, the shower turns on. Jeremy, likely. But, it could be anyone. He thinks Mary and Bobby might be out, he hasn't heard them yet.

He leads her up the stairs and out the door, the sun not very high in the sky yet.

A drive always clears his head. He hopes it might help Caroline.

Inside, he starts the ignition and turns. )

All they know is what their parents taught them. Which, isn't a lot, because they don't know you heard them. Maybe look at it as an advantage.

I know it's not their fault. I mean, they don't have to love me, they're not my parents.

[Her mom tried so hard. Both in trying to understand her when she was just a normal teenager, but she never really gave her enough credit for how quickly she came around when she realized that Caroline was a vampire teenager.

Never mind her father.]

I mean, my own father couldn't handle it at first. Dad ...

[How do you tell your boyfriend that your father tried to torture your blood lust out of you?]

My dad tried to fix me. Which didn't work out the way he hoped.

( Ryan doesn't know, he didn't grow up around small towns and tight-knit family communities. He grew up with his brother, his deadbeat dad, his mom, all in Chino. He has a better relationship with Frank now, and weirdly, Julie Cooper. When she drinks enough, she tells people Ryan could've been her son-in-law.

She mentions her dad and he sits, listening. They can get ice in a minute. )

Fix you?

[How do you talk about this? How do you dig up that kind of trauma and pretend your past it? In a lot of ways she is past it, but it still hurts that at first her father couldn't see her.]

My dad ... he handled things for the Council. Tyler's mom didn't realize that Tyler was a werewolf, and Tyler and I were starting to date and she somehow figured out that I was a vampire and she dosed me with vervain and handed me over to my dad. And my dad didn't want to kill me. So he tried to fix me.

[She swallows hard, eyes focused ahead to the windshield. She's still working on being vulnerable with Ryan in some instances, to not be vampire mentor who has it all together, but to be the girlfriend instead.]

He took my daylight ring and tied me up, used sunlight to do this whole ... behavioral conditioning thing to get me to not drink blood.

( Every day in Mystic Falls is sorting through names and relationships, it feels like, but Newport was also like a soap opera, so he's used to interchangeable names.

It's the second part of the story that makes Ryan hate her father. Ryan glances down to his daylight ring, gaudier than Caroline's. Men's lapis rings make a statement.

But not as big a statement as torturing your daughter. )

He tortured you. Is that what they would do, if Elena or Jeremy were made to be vampires? Is... that what they're taught?

That was my dad's special brand of crazy. They ... they were taught to just kill us. Because to the Council, we weren't people anymore. We were just monsters.

[She gives a small shrug.]

Tyler figured it out, got my mom. She pulled a gun on my dad so that Tyler could get me out. Tyler's mom came around too. So I know it can be done. That they can get past it. And my dad left me alone after that and I didn't see him again until just before he died. We parted on better terms. But there's a reason Elena didn't tell Miranda and Grayson.

[Because that Founding Family training runs deep.]

You can't expect them to change in two minutes what they've been told their whole lives.

I don't expect them to change. But, I expect them to treat you like a person. You're a guest and not a monster, and if that's all they see then maybe we shouldn't be here. But, I know you're here to support Elena - and to help with all the cooking. So, just tell me what you need.

( Besides ice.

Speaking of, he puts the car into reverse and finally pulls away from the bunker. )

Dean hides the stakes, right?

Winchesters don't generally use stakes. They have machetes.

[Which is not better but she at least trusts Dean enough to not give Elena's parents the means of killing her.]

And Ezra has our back at least. Which is kind of weird to say.

[She takes a deep breath. It also doesn't feel right leaving things when Jeremy is worried about Dawn and Bonnie is fighting for her life right now. She wants to be close in case more news comes in.]

I'm not going to leave because her parents are still working through their vampire racism, especially with everything going on in Scotland, and I know she has my back. So if they start actually saying this stuff to my face then we'll reassess, but for now ...

[For now they use this trip to pull herself together a bit and hope that things get better.]

( He gives her his patented Ryan Atwood head turn™️ because, is that better or just more violent? He knows Elena's parents weren't trained to swing a machete. At least. But she doesn't seem to make a bigger deal of it, so, he doesn't either. )

If they start saying it to your face, then they'll learn what a vampire really is. ( He looks to her and then back. It's not a threat at all, but an endorsement of the strong, honorable, well-spoken woman he's dating. ) You're still Caroline.

( On the subject of the witch, though. )

So, Ezra's officially not stalking Elena anymore?

I guess not. She's ... working on trusting him again. And he's the last point of contact for all the witch stuff she's been mixed up in.

[She shrugs as she glances over to him.]

I think he's mostly there for Irina's benefit today.

The... child the other witch wanted to possess. Your world is something.

( But, he likes it. It gives Newport a run for their money. )

If Elena is settled with her parents by then, the Cohens invited us to Chrismukkah.

( Hold for having to explain this one. )

[It takes her a second, before she blinks and puts two and two together.]

Oh, that sounds fun! I'd love to go.

[Honestly, it would be nice to be the visiting girlfriend for a change, rather than the one dragging Ryan along.]

Do we do separate gifts for Christmas and Hanukkah, or is it just one set of gifts for the whole event?

All at once, but for both.

( Seth's Frankenstein creation for celebrating the holiday season. But it's retained it's charm. It's not a staple for the Cohens.

Sandy joked that his girlfriend kidnapped Ryan from California, he never thought he'd see the day. But he's also happy for Ryan. And he hears the happiness in his voice.

Back at the bunker, Grayson and Miranda have settled at the war room table to give Ezra a wide berth. He and Irina eat in the kitchen, Dean, too. )

[Elena smells a rat.

Caroline has a good poker face, but she knows her best friend well. Something happened that sent her running, and she wants to sniff out what it is. So once her parents are settled, she goes wandering to the kitchen and zeros in on the two men in the kitchen.]

Before I ask them, do either of you know why people are acting weird?

( Dean with a mouthful of bacon, looks from Elena to Ezra, to Irina.

"Dntlkathme."

Ezra sighs, setting his fork down. )

Caroline heard them, didn't she. And Ryan.

( Adorable Irina takes a bite of her toast. Ezra smiles at her and then turns fully to face Elena. )

Your parents caught on to Caroline. And assumed Ryan. They're having a hard time with it. I probably owe you an apology because I put them in their place. Probably also why they're not in here eating with us, right Irina? ( He goes into babytalk as he wipes crumbs away from Irina's mouth. ) They're gross, mean people who think vampires are monsters. ( And then in his normal voice. With another sigh, he goes to stand. ) I'll apologize.

[She takes a deep breath, before holding up her hand and shaking her head.]

No, this is my fault. I held back because I wanted to protect her, but ... that was only going to hold for so long. And if you were sticking up for Caroline, you don't owe them an apology.

[What's he going to apologize for? Being right?

Elena made this mess, Elena should handle it.]

Let me talk to them first.

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